Good morning and welcome in today. Today let’s start by taking a look at some scripture from 1 John.
1 John 1:8-9. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The word sin means a transgression of God’s known will. In the church, we grow in the teachings of God’s Holy scriptures day by day. A sin is to go against what you know is right from God’s Word. It’s a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle. Sin is a state of rebellion against God. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Ecclesiastes 7:20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
Rom 3:9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
The truth is that all of us are sinners. The church is a place where sinners come to confess faults and get forgiven. God grants us grace so that we can become what he wants us to be. In order to inherit eternal life someday, we have to first get forgiven with God. It’s only then that we can grow into a spiritually mature Christian. When we get forgiven by God, we want to show that same forgiveness to others in the church. God gives us lots of Grace and many chances to get things right. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. God wants us to come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need.
Would you describe yourself as a needy person? When you need something, it means that you require it because it is essential and very important to you. It’s a situation in which someone or something must do or have something.
Think about how each of us needs food in order to survive. When you sit down at the supper table there are different portions that are given to each member in the family, depending on what you require or need to eat. A child may have a little tiny serving for dinner while the dad needs a lot more. God allots to each of us a portion of His grace, depending on what we require. Some of us need more forgiveness than others, but the fact of the matter is this. If you’ve sinned one time, then you are just as guilty as a person who has sinned 1000 times.
God wants us to come boldly unto Him and get forgiven for our faults and misdeeds. When you do something boldly, it’s done in a confident and courageous way. It’s to do something without hesitation or fear. When you come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need, you are doing it in a brave and confident way without being afraid.
Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
And having an high priest over the house of God;
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.
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised
In the church, we have grace that is freely given unto us when we require or need it. We don’t have to be afraid, but simply come boldly and ask for it. In the simple act of asking for forgiveness, you’re admitting fault and you’re confessing that you did something that was wrong.
I’ve taught for many years that the very first step in the Christian life is believing the truth that we need God’s mercy and grace. That’s what Jesus did for us at the cross when He took upon himself our sins and our misdeeds. He’s the Lamb of God who was slain for the sins of the world. Sins that can’t be forgiven are sins that people won’t admit to or sins that people won’t apologize for. When you hurt God or others around you should quickly confess faults and get forgiven.
In turn, we are supposed to be very forgiving with each other in the church. It’s a tender heart that forgives other people. It’s a tender heart that lets things go. It’s a tender heart that puts everything behind you. We get forgiven because of the tender heart of love in Christ. God expects you to show that love and kindness to others in the church when they sin or make a mistake against you. That’s the Christian faith. If you cannot forgive and reconcile with others, God is not going to forgive you.
The Apostle teaches if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
The truth is, we’re all sinners.
Verse 9 teaches our response to our sinful condition. He says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
To confess means to admit that you’ve done something wrong or something that you feel guilty or bad about. It’s a simple admission of truth. It’s to admit that you were wrong.
Psalms 32:5 I acknowledge 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.
Psalms 38:18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
When we do something wrong to other people in the church, what do we do? We say I’m sorry and apologize. That’s a simple acknowledgement of the truth. It’s accepting the truth that you did something wrong to the other party.
Psalms 51:1-4 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Our God is a very forgiving and merciful God. What He requires is that we admit the truth so that He can forgive us. I’ve always said that the only kind of sin that cannot be forgiven, are the ones people don’t admit. To get forgiven we have to admit the truth in their own hearts and minds and own up to our own shortcomings.
God wants to forgive us because He cares for each of us. That’s why he wants us to be so forgiving with each other in the church, because He is a forgiving God.
Jeremiah 33:8 And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity…
God extends to us grace, so that we can change. How can you ever change without an allotment of forgiveness and mercy?
Mark 1:5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.
Acts 19:18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
Confess means to admit the truth and say I was wrong. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. When you forgive somebody, it means you stop feeling anger or resentment towards somebody for an offense flaw or a mistake. It’s just to be angry when somebody wrongs you. In God’s anger he’s going to punish people to eternal damnation someday if they don’t confess fault and come to His Son Jesus Christ for forgiveness.
To get forgiven with God and others requires that you apologize. Pride is what causes a person to refuse to say that they are sorry.
The word repent means to have a change of heart. It’s to examine your own heart and mind and accept the truth of what you have done and then apologize. To forgive is to let go of anger or blame or resentment towards somebody else and return to friendly relations. In order to do that, you need to confess your faults and admit them to God and others. Again, God is gonna punish sin at judgment day. There’s a heaven and there’s hell, Hell is reserved for people who won’t admit fault and and get forgiven for their sins. It’s also reserved for those who won’t forgive others when they apologize.
When I think about confession, and the forgiveness of sins, I remember something that I had made in shop class many, many years ago. It was a cedar box for keeping things in. I bought a key and a lock for it, and used to lock up some of my valued things in my bedroom. The kingdom of heaven is kind of like that, except the box is full of grace and mercy. There is plenty of grace inside of that box to cover all of your sins but you cannot get into it because you don’t have the key. To get the key to the grace and mercy that is found inside that box, we must first apologize for our misdeeds. We need to admit our faults not only to God but to others we have sinned against. It’s not optional, it is mandatory. When we do this, the key is given to us so that we can open the box up and receive all the grace and mercy that we could possibly want or desire.
The key to forgiveness is confession. We simply need to admit the truth in our own hearts and minds and confess our faults not only to God but to others in the church.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.
Don’t ever forget, confession is the key. Admitting fault is the key, acknowledging that you’ve done something wrong and apologizing for it is the key into that cedar Box.
Let’s think about those things for today and Lord willing, we’ll talk to some more tommorrow. Till then, bye bye, everybody.♥️
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