Discover Grace: Forgiveness and Confession

 9 God saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace in King Jesus before all time and ages, 10 but has now made it visible through the appearing of our saviour King Jesus, who abolished death and, through the gospel, shone a bright light on life and immortality. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 NTE 

 God is calling. He is heralding the Good News of Jesus Christ. He is shouting it from the mountaintops and the highways and byways. Jesus has paid it all. He is proclaiming I am satisfied with Jesus' work. It is all paid in full, and the work is complete. God is saying discover Grace!

  The amazing Grace of God is limitless in scope and eternal and unchanging. The Grace of God reveals how loving our Father is and also the entirety of Jesus' redemptive work on our behalf. Grace invites us on a journey to enter and grow up in an eternal relationship with a Good God. 

 One of the most amazing works of Grace is the revelation of the complete and total payment for all sins once and for all time. This means once we receive Jesus as Savior we receive the free gift of the forgiveness of our sins that He paid for. Our sins are forgiven forever.

 So what if we sin after we receive Jesus? Are our sins just forgiven up to the point of conversion? Is our fellowship broken with the Father because of our sins? 

 Grace is so amazing, God has the answer to all these questions and more. Let's answer these questions one at a time to receive a greater understanding of what Jesus' Finished Work accomplished. Let's not be in a hurry and simply skim the surface of all that Jesus has done on our behalf.

 Through Jesus' work of redemption, all our sins were paid for. In other words, there is nothing left for us to do concerning our sins. Think of it, if sins can only be forgiven by the shedding of blood, what else could we possibly do to contribute to ensuring our sins are forgiven? 

Do we need to confess our sins? 

 Perhaps we may still be thinking there must be something we must do whenever we sin in order to receive forgiveness for that sin. That may sound rational and reasonable. We must, however, yield to the final authority of Scripture and see what it says. 

then he says, · “Their sins and · their lawless acts I will never again remember.” Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:17-18 MOUNCE 

 God has declared something to be true. He has declared something to be finished. He has stated truly and eternally that forgiveness is a completed work. 

 Take note that He said, not man, not denominational creed, not the "Grace Message", not a Grace preacher, He said that nothing can be added to His completed work. Once there is forgiveness for all these sins and lawless deeds, there is nothing to be added. That means our sacrifices are adding to the work of Jesus.

 We may think when we sin we must therefore offer a confession of our sins in order to receive forgiveness for the sins we have committed. We may feel compelled to offer some form of sacrifice for our unlawful deeds. We may feel the need to apologize or confess, because of a sense of guilt and shame on our part.

 Some of this compulsion stems from a misapplied and misunderstood interpretation of 1 John 1:9. We can see 1 John in context here. Look at the famous verse. 

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 NKJV

 These few isolated passages in 1 John may appear to be teaching that we break fellowship with God whenever we sin. It appears that it is telling believers whenever they sin they must offer a sacrifice of confession in order to be forgiven of all sin. It also may appear to reveal we are forgiven judicially but not familial.  

 Rest assured when seen in the full context of the entire Epistle these concerns are readily cleared up. Again stay with the final authority of the Word

In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22 NLT

 I believe God knows what He was saying. Grace was revealed in and through the work of Jesus. Why do we think we can improve on it? 

 God's Word isn't contradictory. He declared in Hebrews 10, where there is forgiveness of sins, the work is complete and there is no more offering for sin. He then declared that only through the shedding of blood is forgiveness received. So why would we add a separate or private interpretation to 1 John 1:9?

 Believing that we must confess our sins in order to receive forgiveness, would counter what God already declared about our sins. John wrote his Epistle years after Hebrews was written. John would have known what was written in the Word before he penned his Epistle.

 What then is John talking about? John was addressing a segment of unbelievers that were corrupting the Gospel message. They were of a sect called Gnostics. They were a mind science type of religion. They concluded all things natural are evil.

 They, therefore, rejected the notion Jesus came to earth as a physical man. They also thus concluded that sin isn't a reality because life is more realized on the spiritual plane not the natural. Therefore they would say they are without sin. If one is without sin why does he need a Savior?

 With that understanding, look at the passages again. Look at the first chapter and you will see John dismantling the heresy of Gnosticism. When he mention confession of sin, he was telling them by acknowledging their sin they could receive the once for all forgiveness of sins and the gift of Righteousness as the believers had. 

 John is not instructing us to confess or speak out to God each and every time we sin in order to receive forgiveness. How can we get more forgiven? We need to cease finding ways to add to Jesus' work and trust in Christ alone.

 What must we do when we sin? Thank God for Jesus. Thank God for having paid the price in full. Agree with God that our sins are already forgiven because of Jesus' shed blood. Confess our Righteousness in Christ. The price is paid in full.

 In summation, as we discover Grace we see just how amazing God is. We are discovering how forgiven we are. We are discovering we can't add to His work, we can't add to His blood. We need not confess or say we sinned aloud every time we blow it. We can rest in His work that we are forgiven. Keep discovering Grace, and we will find the answers to the other questions soon enough. 

Image courtesy of Sira Anamwong at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Discover Grace

 

9 God saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace in King Jesus before all time and ages, 10 but has now made it visible through the appearing of our saviour King Jesus, who abolished death and, through the gospel, shone a bright light on life and immortality. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 NTE 

  God has always sought a Family. So He sent His only Son to take man's place. His Son took the judgment, wrath, and punishment all sin incurs in His own body. No God wasn't punishing Jesus. Sin and all that it produces was being punished in the body of our Savior. 

 Jesus bore it all. Once He took it all, He cried out "It is Finished! Jesus then died for all humanity's sins. With the price paid in full, He triumphantly arose, defeating sin, satan, and death itself. 

 Finally, the Father could have His Family. Law couldn't create a family. Mankind couldn't keep the standards, we failed too often. Covenant couldn't produce it. Again, the Old Covenant was kept on God's part, but mankind failed once and again and couldn't keep Covenant. 

 God decided then to cut Covenant with Himself. The New Covenant is cut between the Father and the Son. Jesus kept the Covenant. Jesus paid for all mankind's sins. God the Father introduced Grace into this lost world and fallen and fractured creation through His Son Jesus.

Discover Grace

 Now that all the work is finished, God has sent forth a heralding cry to all the earth. Calling whosoever will come and freely receive. The Covenant is kept by Jesus. Sin is no longer a barrier. All one must do is simply accept this free gift. Discover the Grace of God, Jesus has done the work.

 God's Grace is manifest in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the exact image of His Father in Heaven. Jesus is the will of God in action. Jesus is the power to save and make whole. Jesus is the Grace of God. 

 Grace expressed in the person of Jesus and demonstrated in the Finished work is God stooping down to meet us where we are. Grace is God's unearned, undeserved, unmerited favor. When received fully, Grace divinely influences our hearts and produces empowerment.

 Grace is unmerited favor. That is Grace is not merited favor. It is not entitled favor. It is not liable favor. Grace is undeserved favor. It is not warranted favor. It is not due favor. Grace is unearned favor. It is not a favor that one is duly worthy of or suited to. This means it's not something bestowed because of our actions and level of good performance.

 Now God is inviting us to discover His Grace. Notice I stated His Grace. We don't want anything but what God offers. We can accept no substitutes. There are two forms of "grace" that we need to not discover but actively avoid.

 The first is foolish or pseudo-grace. This is a man-centered concept of grace that excuses any and all negative choices. This "grace" promotes erroneous ideas and concepts. 

 This "grace" makes claims that all humanity is already saved and righteous apart from Faith, they just don't know it yet. This "grace" says all creation is God's children apart from Faith. This "grace" says no one was ever separated from God by sin. This "grace" denies the sin nature passed on from Adam to all humanity. This "grace" denies the inerrancy of Scripture, God's Word, and declares there is no place called Hell. That eternal separation in Hell is a false concept. 

 When one simply stays with actual authentic Grace and simply reads the Word of God in context, this pseudo, foolish "grace" is easily debunked. Just as wrong is the man-made works and performance rooted "religious grace". We need to not get caught up in works.

 Grace is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, man cannot do away with their own denominational rules and traditional regulations. They agree we are saved by Grace but we must also keep the rules to be acceptable to the Father. True you couldn't save yourself but afterward you're expected to perform perfectly.

 Religious grace is like the lifeguard coming to the aid of the drowning victim. Upon grabbing hold of the one drowning they then expect them to start swimming now. What's wrong you have the lifeguard there why can't you swim now? This is religion, you have Jesus now keep the Law. Religious grace is easily spotted, just listen to their words.

 "Yes we're righteous, but more importantly we must be living righteously."
"Righteousness is what He did, holiness is what we do."
"We're saved by grace but sanctified by the Law."
"Grace needs balance and boundaries."

 Another way religious grace is spotted is in how they define Grace. I've heard preachers discount and downright deny Grace is the unmerited favor of God. They try to define Grace as an ability gift, as divine enablement. What are they really doing?

 Religious Grace simply alters the definition and impact of Grace in favor of keeping their standards. Religion accepts a watered-down version of Grace. They formulate a grace wherein all the rules, regulations, creeds, and traditions of their particular church group are still intact and in effect. 

 Religion expresses Grace this way; grace is great, we concede, but you need to still be observing this or practicing that. To them, Grace is merely an empowerment to observe and keep all the rules. It's not Grace that produces change and growth. It is your effort, your striving, your determination, and your discipline. 

 Grace is the antithesis of foolishness and religious works and a performance-based faith. Man driven by works sees God as the taskmaster. Man wants to earn what only Jesus' work could provide and procure.

 Grace is unearned. The New Covenant is not about a transactional faith. It is not wages for services rendered or for work performed. We aren't receiving from God a return for our efforts or work completed. Religion is about doing, but Grace reveals it's already done. 

 In summation, let's discover God's real Grace. Let's look to Jesus alone. Let's relinquish works and performance. Let's leave pseudo, foolish grace and embrace the truth. God is a loving and Good Father. His Grace is expressed through Jesus. Let's discover more and more of Jesus.

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay