HIGHLANDS GRACE REFORMED CHURCH
516 N. Pine St.
Sebring, FL 33870
(from JUNE 2004)
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
I John 1:9
Why here is a grand question tucked inside this precious verse to lead us to our Savior this summer season. “If we confess our sins.” Then it is possible that we may not be about this sacred matter. “If” suggests that we might put it off or ignore it when it is time to confess our sins or resist the sacred impulses of the precious Holy Spirit.
What (who) keeps you from confessing your sins?
First must be pride. We can be so full of self satisfaction that we can’t stand to face the ugly reality of our own sinfulness and will not acknowledge our sin because we are too proud to do it. By nature we all find this so hard to do. It’s painful to the flesh to acknowledge our own sin. It’s so easy to spot sin in other people, but when it comes to doing something about our own sin something in us rebels against it. Think of how long the prodigal son must’ve been miserable before he even realized that if he went back to his father and admitted to his sin he would be better off. Wouldn’t you be better off to go right to God and tell him your sin and ask him to clean it all away and forgive you for it right now? Why wait any longer?
Then we also can fail to confess our sins because we are distracted and hindered by the enemy. Satan doesn’t want Christians to be confessing our sins to God and finding his forgiveness and deliverance. He wants us to remain in a sad, miserable state of ineffectiveness and fruitlessness and impotence. Toward that end he can keep us busy with a thousand things except what we need to be about. He is a master at diverting our attention into channels that are unprofitable and vain. He loves to keep Christians off balance and this is one area we have a natural propensity to err on the side of morbid introspection or superficiality he leverages to great advantage. And just when you get serious about confessing your sin the enemy will resist you and throw everything in your way to prevent you. Don’t let Satan rob you of this great privilege that will surely keep you back from God’s blessing and peace in your life. Go to your heavenly Father at once and confess your sin and ask him to make good on this wonderful promise and forgive and cleanse you from all unrighteousness, no matter what it is.
We can also lay the blame on our own willfulness. There are times when we are so accustomed to getting our own way that we refuse to acknowledge that we’ve sinned and cling to the lie that we are right. When God touches an area we don’t want to deal with, instead of humbling ourselves and submitting to him, we can resist him and become touchy and make excuses or shift blame elsewhere. We can run away and try to hide from the truth God is showing us. When we do this we are not fulfilling God’s call here to come directly to him and confess our sins against him.
Another hindrance is confusion. The gospel is so plain and simple yet we can get all twisted around in our hearts and minds and fail to recognize that this profound and wonderful promise from God is calling directly to us. If God is so interested in us coming to him and confessing our sins to him, and promised here very simply and lovingly to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, surely he means us to take it seriously, doesn’t he? Yet we can become weighed down with our guilt and feel that God doesn’t really want to hear our confession. This is especially the case if you’ve confessed your sin in a specific area repeatedly and have fallen right into it again. How can you dare hope that he will make good on this promise after so many sins of the same kind? Let me ask you a simple question: does God tell us here how many times we are to confess our sins or place a limit on what we can expect by way of his forgiveness and cleansing? Is he limited or scolding us for coming and confessing our sin again? Friend, look honestly at this precious promise from heaven. Doesn’t he tell you directly here that he wants to forgive you and cleanse you and he is just calling you to confess your sins to him and then he’ll do all this for you?
In the 1599 Geneva Bible notes the translators wisely pointed out ‘for this is our true happiness.’ The old Puritans referred to the practice of ‘keeping close accounts with God.’ Let’s not allow our sins to go unchallenged and unforgiven and uncleansed. Take time this summer to come to God with your confession of sin. Tell him what you’ve done and haven’t done and open up your heart to his forgiveness and cleansing. You won’t have to root around to try to find sin. The Lord will make you aware of your sins by his Word and Spirit. If He convicts you of sinning against someone, go confess it to them and get right. How else can the church prosper and grow and have spiritual life and power? How else will we know the blessing of being those who dwell on the heights with God if we don’t have clean hands and pure hearts? (Ps. 24:3-5) May God find you and I confessing our sins and experiencing his forgiveness and cleansing. He is able and willing. Don’t hold back and rob yourself or the church of the blessing God promises. He will do it when we do.
Then we also can fail to confess our sins because we are distracted and hindered by the enemy. Satan doesn’t want Christians to be confessing our sins to God and finding his forgiveness and deliverance. He wants us to remain in a sad, miserable state of ineffectiveness and fruitlessness and impotence. Toward that end he can keep us busy with a thousand things except what we need to be about. He is a master at diverting our attention into channels that are unprofitable and vain. He loves to keep Christians off balance and this is one area we have a natural propensity to err on the side of morbid introspection or superficiality he leverages to great advantage. And just when you get serious about confessing your sin the enemy will resist you and throw everything in your way to prevent you. Don’t let Satan rob you of this great privilege that will surely keep you back from God’s blessing and peace in your life. Go to your heavenly Father at once and confess your sin and ask him to make good on this wonderful promise and forgive and cleanse you from all unrighteousness, no matter what it is.
We can also lay the blame on our own willfulness. There are times when we are so accustomed to getting our own way that we refuse to acknowledge that we’ve sinned and cling to the lie that we are right. When God touches an area we don’t want to deal with, instead of humbling ourselves and submitting to him, we can resist him and become touchy and make excuses or shift blame elsewhere. We can run away and try to hide from the truth God is showing us. When we do this we are not fulfilling God’s call here to come directly to him and confess our sins against him.
Another hindrance is confusion. The gospel is so plain and simple yet we can get all twisted around in our hearts and minds and fail to recognize that this profound and wonderful promise from God is calling directly to us. If God is so interested in us coming to him and confessing our sins to him, and promised here very simply and lovingly to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, surely he means us to take it seriously, doesn’t he? Yet we can become weighed down with our guilt and feel that God doesn’t really want to hear our confession. This is especially the case if you’ve confessed your sin in a specific area repeatedly and have fallen right into it again. How can you dare hope that he will make good on this promise after so many sins of the same kind? Let me ask you a simple question: does God tell us here how many times we are to confess our sins or place a limit on what we can expect by way of his forgiveness and cleansing? Is he limited or scolding us for coming and confessing our sin again? Friend, look honestly at this precious promise from heaven. Doesn’t he tell you directly here that he wants to forgive you and cleanse you and he is just calling you to confess your sins to him and then he’ll do all this for you?
In the 1599 Geneva Bible notes the translators wisely pointed out ‘for this is our true happiness.’ The old Puritans referred to the practice of ‘keeping close accounts with God.’ Let’s not allow our sins to go unchallenged and unforgiven and uncleansed. Take time this summer to come to God with your confession of sin. Tell him what you’ve done and haven’t done and open up your heart to his forgiveness and cleansing. You won’t have to root around to try to find sin. The Lord will make you aware of your sins by his Word and Spirit. If He convicts you of sinning against someone, go confess it to them and get right. How else can the church prosper and grow and have spiritual life and power? How else will we know the blessing of being those who dwell on the heights with God if we don’t have clean hands and pure hearts? (Ps. 24:3-5) May God find you and I confessing our sins and experiencing his forgiveness and cleansing. He is able and willing. Don’t hold back and rob yourself or the church of the blessing God promises. He will do it when we do.
Your pastor needing forgiveness and cleansing too,
Ed Sager
