each misdeed...
Ok, here we go guys. My soul is heavy tonight concerning this whole issue of sin in relation to the believer. What do we do with sin in our lives? If we are in Christ, do we not stand righteous before God? If so, why did I grow up having 1 John 1:9 thrown at me? The verse, in context, seems to be speaking of salvation:
(8) If we say have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In other words, if we deny our sin, we are not (will not be) saved, but if we confess our sins, we will be saved. Let me know if that is not the valid interpretation. If it is, what is to be done with the guilt believers feel after sinning even though we stand righteous before God? Are we only to acknowledge that truth of our standing before God and move on?
If that is not the valid interpretation, I say it leaves us in more of a tough spot. It smacks of Catholicism to me, and what I mean is this. If those verses are talking about already-believing people, then the converse of verse 9 must be true--If we do not confess our sins, we will not be forgiven or cleansed from our unrighteousness. Do you see where that leads? It means that we are doomed if we do not keep our confession as up to date as possible. If we die with unconfessed sin, we are not cleansed. That cannot be the case. Who sins so rarely that he can consciously confess each transgression?
Basically, I have been proven a vile, deliberate sinner tonight. I am sick of reciting some incantation like "I'm sorry God" or "I confess that was wrong", and having to say it so many times to feel like I mean it. And I'm sick of this view of the Christian life that makes me think I need to go through an indeterminate time of purgatory wherein I willfully (more like "fleshfully") abstain from any "considerable" sin before I can minister to anyone in even the slightest capacity.
That's about as honest and personal as you can get. Does this sound familar to anyone? Help me out...
Josh
p.s. Sorry about the length and seriousness of this post. Perhaps next time I can post on something lighter, such as the problems inherent to a literal-grammatical-historical-geographical-genetical hermeneutic approach to Scripture (Bryce and Matt will be expecting that one). Anyway, good night
(8) If we say have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
In other words, if we deny our sin, we are not (will not be) saved, but if we confess our sins, we will be saved. Let me know if that is not the valid interpretation. If it is, what is to be done with the guilt believers feel after sinning even though we stand righteous before God? Are we only to acknowledge that truth of our standing before God and move on?
If that is not the valid interpretation, I say it leaves us in more of a tough spot. It smacks of Catholicism to me, and what I mean is this. If those verses are talking about already-believing people, then the converse of verse 9 must be true--If we do not confess our sins, we will not be forgiven or cleansed from our unrighteousness. Do you see where that leads? It means that we are doomed if we do not keep our confession as up to date as possible. If we die with unconfessed sin, we are not cleansed. That cannot be the case. Who sins so rarely that he can consciously confess each transgression?
Basically, I have been proven a vile, deliberate sinner tonight. I am sick of reciting some incantation like "I'm sorry God" or "I confess that was wrong", and having to say it so many times to feel like I mean it. And I'm sick of this view of the Christian life that makes me think I need to go through an indeterminate time of purgatory wherein I willfully (more like "fleshfully") abstain from any "considerable" sin before I can minister to anyone in even the slightest capacity.
That's about as honest and personal as you can get. Does this sound familar to anyone? Help me out...
Josh
p.s. Sorry about the length and seriousness of this post. Perhaps next time I can post on something lighter, such as the problems inherent to a literal-grammatical-historical-geographical-genetical hermeneutic approach to Scripture (Bryce and Matt will be expecting that one). Anyway, good night
posted by Josh Huizing at
1:20 AM
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