Bible Reading: Leviticus 25; Psalm 32; Ecclesiastes 8; 2 Timothy 4
Psalms 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
If you are born again what do you do when you sin? Well, you have several options, but only one that is Biblical and obedient. One of the options is to take the line that says I was fully forgiven when I believed on Christ and I have no further need to ask for forgiveness. There is a problem with this approach in that God tells us to ask for forgiveness. Yes, we were fully forgiven when we trusted in Christ in a judicial sense. At that moment we were adopted into God's family and now we have a child to Father relationship with God. As a child, we can disobey our Father and when we do, we need to confess to him.
Another approach is to go to a holy man or priest and tell him all about it. However, the Bible says:
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
The Psalmist said, "I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD."
A third option is to hide our sins and pretend that God does not see. He does see them and the Bible says this will not help us.
Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
The Biblical thing to do is to acknowledge our sin to God. The Bible here repeats itself so that we can understand better what these words mean. To acknowledge our sin to God is to confess our transgressions to him. It means to get honest with God and tell him what you have done and that you know it is sin. Don't try to hide it or cover it up with Adam's fig leaves. Bring it out in the open and tell God about it. Then the Bible tells us that the LORD will forgive the iniquity of our sin.
In order to walk in close fellowship with Jesus, we need to be honest with him about our sin. Sin quenches the Holy Spirit's work in our lives and grieves him.
1 Thessalonians 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
God knows your heart. He will forgive those who are honest with him and confess their sin. Aren't you glad that we have these promises in Scripture? Go to him in prayer and be honest!
In Christ,
Rody
