The Key

Goodmorning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from 1 John.

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

Before we can find forgiveness with God or others,…. before we can obtain reconciliation with God or a brother,…. confession of sins must first take place.  If confession doesn’t happen, forgiveness is not going to happen.  If forgiveness doesn’t happen, reconciliation is not going to happen.  Confession must happen first, before the rest can follow suit.  Sometimes people become so filled up with pride that they refuse to admit fault.  Even when they have been made aware of something hurtful that they have done to another, they will reject the path of humble confession.  This is caused because of pride. We are called to confess faults to each other so that we can find grace with each other in times of need.  Confession must happen for healing to take place.

James 5:16  Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Within the church, people make mistakes, but it is through humble confession and charitable forgiveness that relationships can be restored.  I have known numerous people who have apologized over and over to others, but no matter what they do, the other party holds a bitter grudge and refuses to forgive and forget, as God does with us.  One of God’s commandments in the New Testament is to forgive a brother who says ” I repent.”  We basically ask the same thing in the Lord’s prayer when we ask God to forgive us of our sins.  Those who won’t forgive and reconcile with others who have apologized to them, will not be forgiven by God.  This activity provokes our merciful God to anger.

Luke 17:3-4  Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.  And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

The desire for the offended is for the offender to apologize so they can forgive them and reconciliation can happen.  After a few attempts, those who stubbornly refuse to apologize are supposed to be treated as a heathen, not a Christian, because in that state, they are wilfully rejecting the main tenets of the Christian faith.

Matthew 18:15-20  Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.  And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.  Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

When two brothers are witness to the refusal of someone in the church to confess faults to those whom they have wronged, you are to have nothing to do with them.  In that carnal mindset, they are bound in a state of unforgiveness, and will not inherit eternal life either.  God doesn’t forgive sin without confession, and obviously a brother in the church cannot forgive another, unless the offender humbly admits their faults to them.  Without confession, forgiveness cannot happen.

Once confession is made, forgiveness can take place along with restoration and reconciliation of the former relationship.  When someone says ” I forgive you “, then you can partake of Holy Communion with each other, and wash your sins away in the blood of Christ, never to be spoken of again.  Those who bring up forgiven sins at a later date, reveal that they never really forgave the offender at all, and are found to be a liar.  Not only that, but they sin against the blood of Christ because they refused to forgive the penitent offender in the first place. They will miss out on paradise because of it.

So you see, confession, forgiveness and reconciliation is such a huge matter in the church in regards to our salvation, because it is a large part of the Christian Life.  Those who reject these three main issues are rejecting the Christian Life and everything Jesus stands for.  Those who choose to live like this are anti-christ, and you are not even supposed to pray for them because they abide in spiritual death.  They will reap the reward of an Impenitent heart.

1 John 5:16  If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.

The truth is that if divine charity is present in a person’s heart, love will compel them to apologize to others.  Some people don’t want to apologize because that would mean they would have to repent and reconcile.  They would have to admit the truth, and it would be too embarrassing for them.  Because of their bitter heart, there is too much pride in their life to do that.  Confession is so important that if you refuse to do it, you condemn yourself.  Remember that God does not forgive everybody, otherwise there wouldn’t be a lake of fire.  He forgives those who confess fault.  He also requires that you confess fault with others you have wronged, before showing up at a church service bearing a gift.  Being in church, claiming to be a follower of Jesus, and not apologizing and reconciling with others, is to make yourself a hypocrite.  They claim to know Christ but in works they deny Him.

Matthew 5:23-24  Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

People were confessing their faults to John the Baptist.

Matthew 3:1-2, 5-6  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.  Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,  And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

Confession is the key that unlocks the door to forgiveness with God and others.  Without confession, people remain outside the grace of God.  

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.

Psalms 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

So remember, the key that unlocks the door to forgiveness,…… is confession.

Let’s think about these things for right now, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow.  Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

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