"8 If we say that we 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. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us."
When you and I first came to faith in Christ, sin was an issue we all faced. The Bible says, "ALL have sinned and come short of God's glory. There is none righteous; no, not one." True!
The opening passage of scripture, however, has been misunderstood, misused and, thereby, misapplied to mean that we must come to God to confess our sins again and again to be made right with God. That is not accurate.
So why is this false doctrine so widely taught if it isn't true?
Rightly Dividing.
Believe it or not, many pastors, even some theologians with PhDs, do not know how to "rightly divide the word of God." Hard to believe but true.
What does it mean to "rightly divide?" I used to think it simply meant properly understanding the Bible. That is the end result, of course. The Bible is actually "DIVIDED" into different dispensations or covenants. "RIGHTLY DIVIDING" refers to NOT mixing up the covenants. That's where many pastors, preachers and teaches are confused.
(If you are interested in a complete study on rightly dividing, please follow the link below to Part 1:
How do you know if you are "rightly dividing?" By understanding how to determine the proper context of whatever passage you are reading and knowing to which covenant it belongs. Otherwise, it will be misunderstood. Below are some basic guidelines.
Basics Of Determining Proper Context.
There are five things you need to take into account:
Step 1. Who wrote the book.
Step 2. To whom was it written.
Step 3. Why was it written.
Step 4. When was it written.
Stap 5. Historical and cultural influences at the time it was written.
The above mentioned 16-Part series on Rightly Dividing The Word Of God deals with this subject in more depth.
The Apostle Paul.
The Apostle Paul, who wrote approximately 3/4 of the New Testament, was called to preach primarily to the Gentiles. I say, "Primarily," because he also preached to his fellow Jews. Whatever city he traveled he to, he always preached to them first, then to the Gentiles.
Step 2. To whom was it written.
Step 3. Why was it written.
Step 4. When was it written.
Stap 5. Historical and cultural influences at the time it was written.
The above mentioned 16-Part series on Rightly Dividing The Word Of God deals with this subject in more depth.
The Apostle Paul.
The Apostle Paul, who wrote approximately 3/4 of the New Testament, was called to preach primarily to the Gentiles. I say, "Primarily," because he also preached to his fellow Jews. Whatever city he traveled he to, he always preached to them first, then to the Gentiles.
Though most of his writings were to the non-Jewish Church, he is the one who most likely wrote the book of Hebrews. (Step 1: Who) This book, as the name implies, was written TO the Hebrews meaning Jewish people (Step 2), particularly of the first century (Step 5). Rightly dividing this book will require an understanding why he wrote the book and what issue or problem he was addressing (Step 3). This was penned sometime during the 40-year period between Jesus' Ascension and the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70A.D. (Step 4)
All of these steps are critical if you're serious about unraveling some pretty harry religious myths, particularly those of chapters 6 and 10.
Don't have time for all 16 parts of the study? Refer to the link below and read about these confusing passages:
"The law has been replaced by grace!"
The Holy Spirit is so cool, isn't He? Always leaving hints and clues for us throughout scripture. He wants there to be NO DOUBT that we are no longer under Law but under grace.
It was Jewish believers who needed to remove the law from their lives, not the Gentiles. The purpose of the writings of these three men plus Jude were literally meant to "roll away the stone--the law--from their lives and rip that 'veil' off their faces."
They had been under the Ten Commandments for 1500 years. Because of that, they faced certain issues that the Gentiles did not. There was some serious reprogramming to do in order to "replace the law" in their lives. Old habits die hard.
Once For All Time.
You and I, Church, NEVER AGAIN have to ask God to forgive us of our sins for the rest of our lives from the moment we were saved because of Jesus' FINISHED work. Once you have come to faith in Christ, confessed your sins and received the gift of righteousness, THAT WAS THE END OF YOUR SIN DEBT BEFORE GOD. As far as He is concerned, it's a done deal. The war is OVER.Human to human, however, we will still need to ask forgiveness for wrongs committed and make amends.
Reassurance From The Old Testament.
How can we be sure ".the war is over? The Holy Spirit has provided no lack of object lessons and visual aides throughout the Old Testament to help us understand.
Under the Old Covenant when a man brought his lamb to the priest, he didn't look at the man. The priest checked over his lamb. They had to offer right sacrifices over and over again because their forgiveness was only temporary and their sins only covered. That's the meaning of the word, "atonement: To cover." The sacrifice offered on the Day of Atonement for the whole nation covered them for the next 12 months!
Today we have a BETTER COVENENT based on BETTER BLOOD and a BETTER SACRIFICE! Our Lamb is FOREVER PERFECT and was only offered ONCE FOR ALL TIME. Best of all, our sins are CLEANSED FOR FOREVER, past, present future, not merely covered!
(For more on this subject, please follow this link: https://emmausroadministries.wordpress.com/2016/04/13/no-one-is-forgiven-little/)
How Does God See You?
God, like the Old Testament priests, doesn't look at you today to evaluate us; He looks at your Lamb, JESUS!!! As long as He is acceptable to the Father so are you! Jesus is Great High Priest FOREVER after the order of Melchizedek and His sacrifice is ETERNALLY ACCEPTABLE TO GOD.
TO WHOM Was 1 John Chapter 1 Written? (Step 1)
Answering this question ACCURATELY (the operative word) will solve this issue of continually begging God for forgiveness.
The first chapter of the book of 1 John was actually written to the Gnostic Jews, not believers. He wrote it about 60 years after the birth of the church. We know he was speaking to non-believers because all of the apostles were in the habit of addressing the Church as either "beloved" or "little children" or would expressly say they were writing to the Church of..."whatever." (Step 1)
John, in the first chapter of 1st John, is not addressing believers. He is reasoning with Jewish Gnostics, unsaved. Chapter one does not begin with either of the above mentioned salutations. In capter 2 however he does say "Little children." From that point on he is addressing the Church and no more the unbelieving Jews. 1 John 1:9 is a salvation verse not a lifestyle for believers.
Paul's Ommission?
If this concept of continually asking God to forgive our sins day by day was SO important, why did Paul NOT MENTION IT EVEN ONCE in any of his writings to the Gentile churches? If anything, he should have told the Corinthian Church to confess their sins to God. They were the most immoral of all! They not only visited temple prostitutes but we're having happy hour during holy communion! Holy cow!
As I said, 1John was written 60 years AFTER the birth of the Church. Did all believers prior to it's writing have unconfessed and, by implication, unforgiven sins for all that time until John wrote about it and end up in hell???
Of course not.
If this practice was really all that important that they really needed to know, PAUL SHOULD HAVE SAID SO. He didn't.
Of course not.
If this practice was really all that important that they really needed to know, PAUL SHOULD HAVE SAID SO. He didn't.
Tenses In Greek.
Just in case there are a few skeptics out there, let's examine the Greek text, too. The word for "forgive: aphiémi," and the word "cleanse: katharisē," are in the 3rd person active aorist tense which means they are ONE-TIME, NEVER-TO-BE-REPEATED ACTS with ongoing effectiveness, DONE TO YOU. It has nothing to do with your human working.
Just in case there are a few skeptics out there, let's examine the Greek text, too. The word for "forgive: aphiémi," and the word "cleanse: katharisē," are in the 3rd person active aorist tense which means they are ONE-TIME, NEVER-TO-BE-REPEATED ACTS with ongoing effectiveness, DONE TO YOU. It has nothing to do with your human working.
God is willing that NONE should perish but that ALL should come to repentance--which simply means "change your mind: metanóia." HE'S THE ONE WHO CLEANSED YOU once for all time....and He ISN'T GOING TO TAKE IT BACK.....EVER.
Church, you are completely and irrevocably cleansed of all sins for your ENTIRE life, not just your past sins up to the present. From now until eternity, the number of times we will have to ask God to forgive us our sins is.......yep; you guessed it:
NEVER AGAIN.
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