Tag Archives: Sin

Life's Journey, Purpose and Meaning, Spiritual

Benefits of Confessing to God and Confessing to Man

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Introduction

A confession is an act of meekness and, to some, humiliation. It often entails revealing what we would rather conceal and forget. What are matters that would motivate the desire to hide and forget?
 
These matters often cast the person in a negative light. It potentially exposes anything from embarrassing and stigmatizing shortcomings to acts of evil. 
 
The latter may also carry elements of punishment, as confession is self-recriminating. It is no surprise to deem it inappropriate for one to say they are confessing their achievement.
 
The New Testament reveals the will of God concerning confession in 1Jhn1:9 and Jam5:16. 
 
1Jhn1:9 is the confession of sins to God.
 
Jam5:16 is the confession of moral faults and sins to man. This man hearing the confession is not necessary the aggrieved party of the confessed sins. This post will demonstrate that confession to man is NOT to seek forgiveness as only God can forgive sins, and the reason to confess to man is very important.
 
 

The Purpose and Significance of Confessing Sins to God

1Jhn1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
 

If we confess our sins, Abba Yahuah is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness, according to 1Jhn1:9.

 
His faithfulness is operative by the faith that our confession is made possible only by His Son, the Lord Jesus, crucifixion, death, and atoning blood.
 
Therefore our confession of sins honors the finished work of Christ.
 
By this confession, we TAKE up the shield of faith, in Christ’s finished work, of Eph6, to STAND against the spiritual enemies, recruiting the heavenly host to defend our souls in this spiritual warfare.
 
In summary,  the confession of 1Jhn1:9 has the following purpose, meaning, and significance.
 
1. Honors the finished work of Christ – the Lord Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and atoning blood.
 
2. It channels one’s faith in the Lord Jesus’ finished work to seek forgiveness from Abba Yahuah.
 
3. It channels one’s faith by the Lord Jesus’ finished work to fight the spiritual warfare of Eph6 by weaponizing the shield of faith into the hands of the heavenly hosts.
 
 

The Purpose and Significance of Confessing Sins to Man

Jam5:16 – “Confess your faults (in Greek, it means moral faults and sins) one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
 
The prayer of faith of 1Jhn1:9 is supercharged when combined with the confession to man of Jam5:16.
 
 There is much benefit to being vulnerable to confess moral faults and sins to one another. According to Jam5:16, the benefits are –
 
1. There is physical healing in confessing moral faults and sins to man.
 
The subject of prayer and healing flowed from Jam5:14, the prayer of elders, and Jam5:15, the prayer of faith, in the Lord, of both the person needing the healing and the elder praying.
 
The person to whom the sin is confessed has the opportunity to save the confessor’s soul from death, as revealed in Jam5:20.
 
Jam5:20 – “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner (this sinner is a believer in error from the truth mentioned in Jam5:19) from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
 
This death is the death arising from Rom8:6 – “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
 
It is an honor to support the confessing brethren in their journey to return to the will of God (the truth of being spiritually minded). 
 
Because it involves spiritual repentance, this support offered must be led by the Spirit. 
 
 
2. There are answered prayers in confessing to man. But why is that the case?
 
Could it be that God considers confessing moral faults and sins to man as a righteous act?
 
The righteousness in Jam5:16 is not a noun. Meaning it is not the same as the imputation (by Grace) of the righteousness (this word is a noun), e.g., in Rom4:22.
 
According to Blue Letter Bible (BLB) Greek Lexicon, the righteousness of Jam5:16 is an adjective that describes the acts of righteousness.
 
It would appear that Jam5:16 implies that God deems the act of confessing moral faults and sins to man as a righteous act!
 
And this righteous act of confessing moral faults and sins has the benefit of answered prayers!
 
This last point of answered prayers by confessing is where the compounding positive feedback loop effect with the prayer of 1Jhn1:9 and Eph6 occurs.
 
 

Imagine this Scenario

One comes to Abba Yahuah to confess, according to 1Jhn1:9, the sin of unbelief and worship of money due to suffering a significant financial setback.
 
After that, this same person relates the 1Jhn1:9 confession to the spouse (spousal confession is highly recommended as there are the added benefits of honoring the marriage). God deems this confession as a righteous act that supports answered prayers, especially for bodily healing.
 
Then this person who made the 2 confessions of 1Jhn1:9 to God and Jam5:16 to the spouse has to deal with the consequences of the financial loss. It remains stressful to deal with the consequences.
 
There is an additional step before waging the spiritual warfare of Eph6 that recruits God’s resources. This person needs to experience the restoration of Heb10:22 –
 
“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
 
 
Heb10:22’s restoration involves
 
1. Restoration of the assurance of the faith in Abba Yahuah by the mediating role of the Lord Jesus. This faith is clarified as follows 
 
– in Heb10:35-38 as the reward that comes by the promise of His (Jesus) return in the 1000-year rule and 
 
– the heavenly citizenship mentioned in Heb11:13-16.
 
Man can be assured as He (Jesus) suffered as a human, empathizing with compassion for the sinner as revealed in Heb2.
 
 
2. Restoration from an evil conscience. BLB renders evil as wickedness and resentment towards God and man due to injustices in life.
 
This restoration also includes the body being cleansed.
 
Remember that this restoration is made possible by the assuring faith of Jesus’ return and eternal life in God’s kingdom as revealed in the word of God, which is the pure water spoken of in Heb10:22.
 
 

Conclusion

 
The spiritual battle of faith of Eph6 can now take place with the following advantages –
 
1. This person has a cleansed (forgiven) conscience of all unrighteousness of 1Jhn1:9.
 
2. This person is honored as righteous with prayers that avail much of Jam5:16.
 
3. This person’s conscience and body receive cleansing restoration in the faith-power of the HOPE of His return and eternal life of Heb10:22.
 
For details about the spiritual battle of Eph6, see the link below.
 
 
 
End Times, Spiritual

Witchcraft in the Church

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The video talks about witchcraft in the church drawing from Gal3.

Gal3:1 – “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?”

One aspect raised concerns the tension of obedience led by the Spirit after the Law of the  Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus and the obedience after self-works and legalism after the Law of sin and death.

It offers a flavor of what this tension is all about and not how to navigate it.

At the heart of this tension is the central focus, or lack thereof, of Christ, crucified, His death, His resurrection, and His dominion in His return.

It is based on this central focus that the Christian fulfills the Law of Christ of bearing each other’s burdens (moral faults) mentioned in Gal6:2, and not by focusing on the rules themselves.

To do the latter is falling into the Law of Sin and Death, which would make one a victim of witchcraft.

Life's Journey, Relationship, Spiritual

Freedom from Slavery- Yes, and No

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https://www.theberean.org/index.cfm/main/default/id/3692/ver/NKJV/2-timothy-3-1-5.htm

This article that expounds on 2Tim3:1-5 ended on this note-

“The idea of “servant” becomes clearer when we understand it as “slave.” Slavery is another metaphor for what self-satisfaction produces. Sin puts us in bondage to the cruelest taskmaster in the universe, Satan, the one who generates this host of self-centered attitudes. 

We are completely unable to break free from this bondage without supernatural help, (as said in) Hebrews 2:14-15.”

It is a little appreciated truth that the new man in Christ is still enslaved. 

God describes this freedom from bondage in Jhn8:36 to mean being set free from the old man’s slavery, but the new man remains a slave to righteousness (Rom6:16,22).

The shift of the slave realm of the old man (Rom6:6) subject to the law of sin and death (Rom8:2) to the new man subject to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom8:2) is a clear sign that this new slave relationship with God is not a relationship where anything goes.

For this reason, God says He is not mocked in Gal6:7, for any man that sows to not bear the burdens (moral faults) of others of Gal6:2 and to not bear his own burdens of Gal6:5 (this burden is God’s will for the individual manifested in life circumstances) such shall reap what they sow. (paraphrase of Gal6:7).

It goes back to the article’s focus that man is enslaved by their obsessive entitled sense of “Self Satisfaction.”

The new man operating under the new law of enslavement is the solution for this old disease.

Relationship, Spiritual

Once Saved Always Saved: Proof

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Introduction

 

This post is an extension of an earlier post titled “Faith and Work in Harmony” that explored the controversy of Jam2:17, where James indicted the believers that lacked works as having faith that is dead. See the following link for this post-.

Faith and Work in Harmony (4min read)

 

The purpose of this reflection is to offer evidence to support the claim, “Once Saved Always Saved.”

 

Once Saved Always Saved

 

Three approaches are adopted to support this claim.

The first approach enhances the clarity between works mentioned in Jam2:17 and the works that lead to soul salvation in 1Pet.

The second approach explores the implications of 1Co5 concerning the Corinthian believer, who is foolishly brave to commit adultery with his stepmother openly.

The third and final approach is to examine Col2:13 and John10:27-29, which offer direct scriptural evidence to support the claim, “Once Saved Always Saved.”

 

Apostle Peter with a key before St. Peter’s Cathedral, Vatican

 

First Approach – The Connection between 1Pet and Jam2:17

 

A more explicit connection between these two verses provides a better foundation to support the conclusion that Jam2:17 was speaking of the faith that saves the soul and does not relate to the salvation of the born again spirit.

1Pet9 states, “obtaining as the outcome (telos – final destination, purpose, goal) of your faith the salvation of your souls.” This faith spoken of here is the means to produce the goal, which is soul salvation.

This faith is the loving faith in the unseen Christ (1Pet1:8) and the living hope of the resurrection (1Pet1:3-5). In the context of 1Pet1, this faith was tested in fiery trials (1Pet1:7) of persecution to validate their faith genuineness as to whether their faith is sufficiently genuine to produce soul salvation, which has nothing to do with spiritual salvation.

Later in 1Pet1:22, Peter reveals this faith’s manifestation that purifies (saves) the soul taking the form of sincere brotherly affection-love with a pure heart. 1Pet2:1 defines this sincerity in negative examples of “laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”

It is notable that the word “sincere (anypokritos)” is used 6 times in the New Testament and was ascribed to faith (2 times), love (3 times), and good fruit (1 time). See link- https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G505&t=NASB.

 

The rest of 1Pet has a repeated theme that supports the scope of this sincere love. This theme shows believers committing their souls to the will of God the Father (1Pet4:19), enduring temporal suffering (1Pet1:6, 1Pet5:10), as they pour out their lives in sincere love for righteousness sake (1Pet4:14). By doing so, they partake (1Pet4:13) in Christ’s suffering where His suffering is set as an example (2Pet2:21) for believers to emulate in action (1Pet4:2) and attitude (1Pet4:1).

When one can appreciate the arduous journey to produce soul salvation, it makes sense when 1Pet18 says,” If the righteous one is scarcely saved” (NKJV). This “saving” refers to the soul salvation and not the salvation of the born again spirit. Soul salvation is difficult!

For the born again spirit is perfectly saved by God’s the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit (John3:6 and John3:16). The only part played by a man is to believe by confessing (Rom10:9) Christ’s saving work apart from works (Eph2:8-9). The spiritual salvation is secure apart from the man’s works!

1Peter’s works that save the soul and Jam2:17 works share the common elements of suffering and submission to God’s will.

The two examples of works mentioned by James 2 is about Abraham and Rahab. Abraham suffered the loss of Isaac when he offered Isaac to God. However, Abraham submitted to God’s power to resurrect Isaac from the dead (Heb11:19). Rahab suffered the threat of execution for betraying Jericho when she sheltered the two Israelite spies and submitted to God’s manifested power (Joshua 2:9-11).

It stands to reason to assert at this point with greater confidence that the walk of sincere love that suffers while doing good, as the believer’s work is to emulates Christ’s suffering, is the mentioned in Jam2:17.

 

Aerial drone photo of the iconic archaeological site of Ancient Corinth built in the slopes of Acrocorinth, Peloponnese, Greece

 

Second Approach – Believer in a Sinful Lifestyle

 

1Co5:1 is about a man who openly indulged in a sexual relationship with his stepmother. Paul’s solution to this thorny issue of 1Co5:5 – “I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

It is notable for drawing attention.

  1. The scripture deems the spirit saved despite his brazen behavior to openly promote his sexually immoral relationship with his stepmother and threatening to corrupt the Corinthian Church with this sin(1Co5:6).
  2. The scripture is silent about soul salvation. Since good works (1Pet) and natural decay of the body (2Co4:16-18) produces soul salvation, such practice of sin against the body deserves the bodily death of 1Co3:17

1Co3:17- “If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”, where the body is destroyed.

  1. Paul did not attempt to cast doubt concerning the believer’s salvation (born again spirit) status. Apostle Paul is faithful to his revelation that such judgment belongs to God (1Co4:4-5).

The above implications support the understanding that sin does not deprive the believer of their place in heaven.

 

Colossae ancient city in Denizli, Turkey

 

Third Approach- Col2:13 and John10:27-29

The Bible has three God personas, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

The whole person also has three personas, the Spirit, Soul, and body (1The5:23)

It is an often committed error in the reading of scripture.

  1. The failure to identify the various God personas speaking or spoken.
  2. The failure to identify which part of the man that particular God persona is speaking to.

When the one reads the scripture bearing the above in mind above, scripture becomes relevant and alive. A careful examination of Col2:13 will reveal this benefit.

 

KJV

Col2:13- “And you, being (G5607) dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

The Greek Interlinear Bible clarifies that the tense of this being (G5607- ōn) is a present participle that indicates the ongoing action in the present.

The next step is to identify where the born again spirit, unsaved soul, decaying body, God the Father, and God the Son fit within the scripture.

 And you ( born again spirit), your soul being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh that is in your decaying body, hath he, God the Father, quickened the born again spirit together with him, Jesus, having forgiven you ( born again spirit) all trespasses;

Interpretation

The above holds the perspective of a believer’s walk after the spirit is born again. The born again spirit is immune to the unsaved soul that experiences death when it sins due to the sinful flesh.

God the Father confers immunity by the quickened (syzōopoieō- to make alive with Christ) of born again spirit. For the born again spirit HAS received forgiveness from sins once and for ALL. God has thereby immunized the born again spirit against harmful effects of the soul and body that sins—thus securing the “Once Saved Always Saved” salvation.

 

John10:27-29 truths echo and resonate with Col2:13. Jesus refers to believers as sheep that are given eternal life in John10:27-29. The sheep secure eternal life by the protection offered by His hands and the hands of His Father, who is greater than Him. The power of God secures the sheep’s salvation once and forever.

 

Conclusion

While I have attempted to offer systematic reasoning of evidence to support the belief of unshakable eternal salvation, there are always outlier scenarios that reside in the domain of God to determine the authenticity of the believer’s salvation status in the very first place.

Two outlier scenarios come to mind.

  1. The unpardonable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirt seems to the sword hanging over the believer’s secure salvation. (Mat12:31-32)
  2. The sins of apostasy.

Another post or posts is required to cover the unpardonable sin in detail. For this post, the fact that no other scriptures further warn of this sin suggests that this sin’s applicability does not extend beyond the specific circumstances required for the sin to be relevant. The circumstances were such that Jesus had to be physically present, and Man blasphemes the Holy Spirit operating through Him. Christ’s physical presence with the Holy Spirit in Him are realities not available to Man.

Apostasy in Greek, apostasia, is mentioned twice in the new testament. In 2Th2:3, Paul used apostasia in the anti-christ context, and in Act21:21, Paul’s accusers used apostasia to voice their concerns of forsaking the old covenant traditions. Hence the apostasy is used in a specific context. Scripture DOES NOT support the casualness among Christians to lay this charge against their brethren.

In-summary, It makes little sense to construct barriers to salvation based on these outliers, given the great price paid by our Lord Jesus for humanity’s salvation. Let’s set aside these needless arguments that seek to divide the unity of the faith in the love of Christ.

Those that are adamant about doing so are usurping God’s sovereignty to judge His flock by discriminating their born again spirit genuineness in-place of God the Father.

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Faith and Work in Harmony (4min read)

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Introduction

 

Faith without works is a dead faith, according to James (Jam2:14-17). This verse is contentious because it challenges the salvation by grace made possible by the death by crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Rom10:9). The inference of a dead faith threatens to negate the faith of the gift of salvation apart from works (Eph2:8-9).

This reflection is to reconcile by harmonizing Jam2:14-17 and Eph2:8-9 to support the view that the faith mentioned in Jam2:17 is different from the faith mentioned in Eph2:8-9.

Often Jam2:17 is interpreted in extreme positions.

 

The Hyper-Grace or Liberal View

One extreme is occupied by the hyper-grace camp that takes the position to negate this verse due to the perceived threat to spiritual salvation. The proponents support this position by reframing the notion of works (dismissing the obviousness of the practical deeds found in James’s examples in the story of Abraham and Rahab) into belief in the goodness of God. I.e., this work is the work of belief and not action.

 

The Conservative View

The other extreme is occupied by the conservative camp that believes that the secured salvation by grace is not secure. The absence of faith works that are not dead is evidence of this insecure salvation in one’s life, thereby threatening Christ’s unconditional salvation.

 

The Harmonized View

 

Genuine Faith and Sincere Works to Save the Soul

 

It is needful to expand Jam2:17 (NASB) by drawing from insights from 1st Peter, which aligns with the two examples cited by James as examples of faith works that save. 1st Peter is selected because Peter connected between acts of sincere love and salvation of the soul.

Jam2:17- “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

Expanding Jam2:17 by defining

  1. 1Pet defines the nature of these faith works that save, which aligns with the two examples cited in Jam2.
  2. 1Pet defines the object that needs saving.

Items in bold are expanded content.

“Even so Faith, if this faith has no works of sincere love that purifies the soul (1Pet1:22), is dead, being by itself for the goal of this faith is the salvation of the soul (1Pet1:9).”

Christ’s salvation work of the cross offered man spiritual salvation because the only part of man that was “saved” is the dead spirit that becomes the born again spirit when one accepts Christ. The body that remains entrapped in sinful flesh will decay, leading to death (2Co4:16). The resurrected body preserved in heaven (1Pet1:5) will replace the decaying body. The soul still sins till the day of death of the body. Paul artfully described this sin challenge of the soul and body in Romans 7.

The spiritual salvation of the born again spirit is secured and immune to the effects of the sinful flesh and unsaved soul (Col2:13). Refer to the following post that explores Col2:13 in greater depth.

https://sincerelawrence.com/2020/10/27/once-saved-always-saved-10min-read/

 

Conclusion

In summary, Jam2:17 speaks of faith that saves the soul, and Eph2:8-9 speaks of a faith that saves the spirit. The saving of the soul affects the rewards of 1Co3 and the eternal glory of 2Co4:16-18. The saving of the spirit affects the destination of heaven or hell.

Relationship

Righteousness and Sin Confession in Harmony (5min Read)

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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.