November 29
Hosea 6-7
Psalm 134
Proverbs 28:16-17
I John 1
Confession and Forgiveness
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His Word is not in us.” I John 1: 8-10 NIV
We know that sin separates us from God. We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God and the wages of sin is death and Hell. If we do not confess our sins and recognize our need for His forgiveness, we are destined to eternal separation from God. If we refuse to acknowledge that we are sinful and in need of His grace and mercy, we are deceiving ourselves. This principle applies to our lives regarding salvation, but it also applies after we are saved. Our eternal destiny is secure, so we are not separated from God in an ultimate sense, but unrepentance and sin cause distance and separation from God in our daily lives. Sin produces fear, turmoil, anxiety, and dread. It wreaks havoc in our lives and the lives of those around us. All sin produces this result, not just “big sins.” We have seen the chaos caused by adultery and other sexual sin. We know the destructive power of substance abuse, pornography, gambling, and theft, but all sin damages relationships. Lying produces distrust and distance. Gossip separates friends. Greed and jealousy result in division and unhealthy competition. All of these and a long list of others can result in anger, hurt feelings and broken relationships,
Unfortunately, there is an even more significant consequence of unrepentance and a failure to recognize and acknowledge our sin. Sin creates a barrier in our relationship with God. As believers, when we sin the Holy Spirit convicts us. He points out our sin to us and makes us feel the shame and guilt of whatever we have done that is not pleasing to God. If we confess our sin to Him, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. There is no better feeling than the peace we have when we come clean and are forgiven. The relationship is restored, and we can move forward. If, on the other hand, we ignore the conviction and refuse to repent, we start to build a wall. The more we ignore Him, the easier it gets and before we realize it, we have a pretty high wall built up between us and God. We begin to avoid time with Him because we don’t want to deal with it. We spend less time in His Word and in prayer. It gets easier and easier to do the things we know we shouldn’t be doing, and we do things that we never thought we would do. The distance we feel from God is not because He has left us; it is because we have wandered from His presence. Confession is good for the soul. He is waiting with open arms to welcome us back. No matter what we have done or how far we have wandered, we can always come back to Him. Ask Him to reveal anything in your life that you need to confess and repent and then turn to Him for forgiveness and restoration.
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