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What Does It Mean to Confess? Insights from Scripture
The salient point of this discourse revolves around the profound significance of the act of confession, particularly in the context of one's relationship with God. Pastor Josh Massaro elucidates the biblical concept of confessing sins, emphasizing that this act is not merely a singular occurrence but rather an essential aspect of a believer's ongoing spiritual journey. He delineates between positional forgiveness, which is granted at the moment of salvation, and relational forgiveness, which pertains to the restoration of fellowship with God following acts of disobedience. Drawing upon 1 John 1:9, the pastor asserts that genuine confession entails acknowledging one's sins as God perceives them and turning away from them in repentance. This vital practice not only fosters a closer walk with God but also safeguards the believer from the detrimental effects of unrepentant sin on their spiritual vitality and witness.
Takeaways:
- The podcast emphasizes the importance of confessing sins directly to God, as outlined in Scripture.
- Confession is not merely a one-time event, but a continual practice for believers to maintain fellowship with God.
- Understanding the concept of positional versus relational forgiveness is crucial for spiritual growth and restoration.
- 1 John 1:9 highlights the faithfulness and justice of God in forgiving sins, reinforcing the necessity of confession.
- The speaker illustrates that relational forgiveness, akin to a father-son relationship, is vital for maintaining a close walk with God.
- The podcast encourages believers to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's conviction regarding sin to restore joy in their salvation.
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This podcast is produced by Ralph Estep, Jr., host of the Ask Ralph Podcast, a daily podcast on Christian Finance you can find it at https://www.askralphpodcast.com/
Transcript
Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, where we are proclaiming the truth to the world.
Speaker A:In this podcast series, we're going to be looking into biblical words that have great significance to our faith.
Speaker A:The name of this series is called the Word of the Week, where once a week we will dive deeper into these words that we are familiar with in scripture.
Speaker A:So come along with me, let's study the Word of the week.
Speaker A:Pastor Josh here with another word of the week.
Speaker A:The word of the Week this week is confess.
Speaker A:Depending on one's background or church history, that word confessed or confession might mean different things.
Speaker A:What we're talking about here in this case is what Scripture says is confessing our sins to God.
Speaker A:And really we know that ultimately that is who we are to confess our sins to.
Speaker A:And we're going to look at what that word confession means or confess means and when we are to do it.
Speaker A:And is it a one time thing or is it something that we do over and over again in our lives?
Speaker A:And I've heard many people say, you know what?
Speaker A:I've asked for forgiveness once in my life, I've confessed my sins one time and that's it.
Speaker A:And in regards to salvation, that is true.
Speaker A:We know that in the book of Ephesians and many other places, the Bible tells us that we find forgiveness from God in the moment that we come to him in faith.
Speaker A:And so we're repentant of our sins, we're coming to him and confessing our sins.
Speaker A:We're asking him for forgiveness, and he extends that forgiveness to us.
Speaker A:And that's what's called positional forgiveness, or you could even call it judicial forgiveness.
Speaker A:So in the eyes of God, when He forgives us, he now no longer sees our sin in our guilt, but he sees Jesus paying the price for our sins.
Speaker A:He sees Jesus's sacrifice on our account.
Speaker A:Therefore he's able to extend his forgiveness and grace, and we are now able to experience that forgiveness and eternal life in Him.
Speaker A:So, so that is what we would call positional forgiveness.
Speaker A:But there's other passages of Scripture and one passage of Scripture that we're going to focus on for most of our time here in this study is 1st John 1:9.
Speaker A:If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Speaker A:So, so one might say, well, that's obviously him talking about salvation.
Speaker A:And though those statements there that he makes in 1st John 1:9 are true, in regards to salvation, we have to understand context.
Speaker A:And in context we Know that First John is written to believers.
Speaker A:And so if you read a few verses ahead in First John, chapter one, we'll start in verse five, says this, then, is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Speaker A:If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
Speaker A:But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
Speaker A:And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
Speaker A:So we've already talked about that.
Speaker A:That's speaking of positional forgiveness.
Speaker A:It's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from sin, that forgives us of sin.
Speaker A:But then we say in verse eight, this is kind of the life that we live after salvation.
Speaker A:So it says if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
Speaker A:And so there's someone who says, well, you know what?
Speaker A:I'm a Christian now, and I don't sin says here that we deceive ourselves, we're lying to ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Speaker A:And then we see again the major verse that we're studying.
Speaker A:If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Speaker A:If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
Speaker A:And so the type of forgiveness that we're talking about when it comes to First John, chapter one, is what some folks call relational forgiveness or what we would call familial forgiveness.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So the relationship that I like to explain in this is a father and a son, right?
Speaker A:I have a.
Speaker A:I have children.
Speaker A:And so when my child sins against me or rebels against me, he or she might come to a place where they reject the.
Speaker A:The fellowship that they have with me as a father.
Speaker A:It doesn't mean that they lose their relationship with me so positionally.
Speaker A:They are still my child, but there are things that they can do in disobedience and in sin that can cause a wedge or divide between our relationship.
Speaker A:And so if a son does something wrong to his father and.
Speaker A:And the son then at that point has hindered his relationship with his Father, that.
Speaker A:That fellowship is what we would call broken.
Speaker A:But though the fellowship is broken, the relationship stays the same, but the relationship certainly suffers in that case.
Speaker A:And so as a Christian, yes, we are saved positionally at the moment of salvation.
Speaker A:And God, then His forgiveness is extended to us, and he removes our sin as far as the east is from the west when it comes to our guilt or our condemnation.
Speaker A:Because the Bible says In Romans, chapter 8, verse 1, we have no more condemnation if we are in Christ.
Speaker A:But what First John, chapter one, verse nine is talking about, I believe, is that familial or relational restoration that we all seek when it comes to our sin.
Speaker A:And it doesn't mean that God turns His back on us.
Speaker A:It means that in our sin and in our unrepentant spirits, we have turned our back against Him.
Speaker A:And so he's waiting there for us, but yet we are pushing him away because of our disobedience.
Speaker A:And so we go back and look at what that word confess means, if we confess our sins.
Speaker A:And so what does that mean?
Speaker A:Does that mean just, hey, I did this, but I'm not really sorry for it?
Speaker A:Well, no, there's.
Speaker A:There's repentance.
Speaker A:Repentance means turning away from something.
Speaker A:There's repentance in our confession.
Speaker A:But literally the word confession means to say the same about something.
Speaker A:If you, if you look at the Greek word that we get, the English word confess, it's actually two words put together, homo or homo, which is one or.
Speaker A:Or single, the same, so to speak.
Speaker A:And then logea, or.
Speaker A:I'm not pronouncing it correctly, I'm not.
Speaker A:I'm not a great pronunciate person who pronounces Greek.
Speaker A:I'm sorry about that.
Speaker A:But it's homo logea, which basically means to say the same thing, to say the same thing as God.
Speaker A:So as God sees our sin, so we should see our sin.
Speaker A:So God sees lying as a sin.
Speaker A:And so we should see lying as a sin to say the same thing about something.
Speaker A:And so we're acknowledging our sin, we're acknowledging what it means to God.
Speaker A:We're acknowledging that this sin is an offense to God.
Speaker A:And we are agreeing with Him.
Speaker A:That is something that we should turn away from.
Speaker A:And so in that confession, and we go back to that verse, verse 9 of 1 John 1, if we confess our sins.
Speaker A:So there's that if there, if we do this, if we do what we just described, when it comes to that relational forgiveness, if we do that, he that's talking about God is faithful and just.
Speaker A:And so there's.
Speaker A:There's those two things there.
Speaker A:He's faithful and just.
Speaker A:And so he's faithful to do this.
Speaker A:And he's just, in doing so, he's okay in doing this.
Speaker A:This is the right thing for him to do because he has the opportunity to do so because the payment of sin is, is, is his.
Speaker A:It's not our payment.
Speaker A:We did not pay for our sins.
Speaker A:We could not pay for our sins, but he was able to do that, so he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Speaker A:And so this, this confession is not a confession to a priest.
Speaker A:You, you, you know, as a pastor, I don't need someone to come in and confess to me everything and then me explain to them how they need to get themselves out of that.
Speaker A:Certainly there can be that, but ultimately it's, there's only one mediator between God and man.
Speaker A:And the, and, and the Bible tells us that's Jesus.
Speaker A:And so he is the way, the truth and the life.
Speaker A:And so this confession of, of sin will allow us to restore our fellowship with our Lord.
Speaker A:And so if, if we fail to do this, if we reject the importance of confessing our sins, what will happen is that ultimately we will, we will possibly in, in the case of a Christian face, discipline of the Lord or lose what we see as the joy of our salvation.
Speaker A:We cannot lose our salvation, but what we can do is that we can certainly in points of our life, in the rejection of the Holy Spirit's conviction is to lose the joy of our salvation, lose the effectiveness of our witness, our gospel message that God has entrusted to us.
Speaker A:And so we don't lose our salvation, but we do lose our fellowship with God that is, is hindered when we live and rest and dwell in our sin.
Speaker A:And so proper fellowship with God is impossible unless we confess our sins to Him.
Speaker A:And the Bible speaks of God desiring this restoration.
Speaker A:So we, so we need to confess our sins to the Lord as soon as the Holy Spirit brings those sins up to us.
Speaker A:And in that what we call conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:And that way we can maintain that close walk with God.
Speaker A:So we, we go back to the idea that, no, you don't lose your salvation.
Speaker A:Um, we, we believe that Romans chapter 8 speaks of the security of our salvation.
Speaker A:And I would encourage you to go through Romans chapter 8 sometime.
Speaker A:That would be an awesome study.
Speaker A:Speaking of that, that nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Speaker A:That, that no one can pluck us out of his hand.
Speaker A:But we do know that even so, as we have what's called eternal security, we, we do have the opportunity to break fellowship with God when it comes to that personal walk with him on the daily basis.
Speaker A:And so we should strive to know him more.
Speaker A:We should, we should strive to see the same Things as he sees in our life.
Speaker A:And so that's that idea of confession.
Speaker A:To say the same about an issue or to say the same about a sin in our life, to recognize the hindrance that it is to us.
Speaker A:And so our prayer lives can be affected, our Gospel witness can be affected, our love for others, our love for him can be affected.
Speaker A:Our Bible study can be affected when we are harboring that, that sin in our heart.
Speaker A:And so in faith, we reach out to God and we say, lord, just as you said, you'll never leave me nor forsake me, it also says that you will restore me when I come back to you in confession.
Speaker A:So when you hear that word confession, it's not about coming to someone and saying, okay, I need to pray this many prayers to get back into good standing with God and then for him to save me.
Speaker A:No, you don't lose that salvation.
Speaker A:But it's the same idea when it comes to that father, son relationship.
Speaker A:Even though, you know, there are children that have said, you know, that person is no longer my father, I.
Speaker A:I renounce my, my sonship to them.
Speaker A:It doesn't mean that still that they're not the child.
Speaker A:It just means that they're not recognizing that relationship.
Speaker A:And so I would say the same thing when it comes to our salvation in Christ.
Speaker A:You know, no matter what we do in our sin, God still sees us as his child.
Speaker A:But yet after we've come to him in faith, but yet we can hinder all of those benefits and blessings of what it means to be a child of God.
Speaker A:And so my goal for myself and my goal for my family, my goal for you is that we can rest in the goodness of the salvation of God, the joy of our salvation.
Speaker A:I think it's even David who in the Psalms mentions restoring me the joy of my salvation.
Speaker A:And we have a lot of Christians that are walking around because of unrepentant sin in their life that have caused themselves to get to a place where there is no joy in their salvation.
Speaker A:There's no joy in their walk with Christ.
Speaker A:We want that to be the case.
Speaker A:We want that, that joy to be there, because that's something that God has imparted to us.
Speaker A:And so it's a very simple thing to recognize the conviction of the Holy Spirit through studying the Word of God.
Speaker A:So I study the Word, I see that I'm wrong.
Speaker A:The Holy Spirit is convicting my heart.
Speaker A:The gauge to what's right and wrong is Scripture.
Speaker A:But the Holy Spirit is what allows me to be sensitive to what is right, what is wrong.
Speaker A:And then at that point in time, when the Holy Spirit convicts, I admit I repent, I confess to the Lord.
Speaker A:Repentance just literally means to turn away from.
Speaker A:I confess it to God and then God restores me in fellowship and therefore he equips me to walk in righteousness.
Speaker A:And I think that that's one of the beautiful things about scripture is that that scripture tells us that.
Speaker A:That the Word of God is.
Speaker A:Is there to teach us where we are wrong.
Speaker A:Most definitely.
Speaker A:To show us where we've made mistakes and what we need to believe.
Speaker A:All scripture is given by inspiration of God.
Speaker A:So it's given to us by God for a purpose.
Speaker A:And that is to teach us doctrine as it says in second Timothy, chapter three, verse 16, for reproof, to tell us that we're wrong, to.
Speaker A:To tell us how to correct that, for correction and for instruction and righteousness.
Speaker A:So how to fix it?
Speaker A:And how to walk in that.
Speaker A:That a man of God may be perfect or complete, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Speaker A:And so if we want to walk that walk of effectiveness or fruitfulness for the cause of the gospel, we walk in truth to the Word of God, we walk in sensitivity to the conviction of the Spirit, and we walk in fellowship with our Heavenly Father.
Speaker A:And so that is confession.
Speaker A:That is what biblical confession is.
Speaker A:And I hope that that's something that you can learn through the Word of God, specifically there in First John, chapter one, verse nine.
Speaker A:So we will be back next week with another Word of the Week.
Speaker A:I hope that these studies are profitable for you.
Speaker A:I know that they are helping me in my own walk as we study each of these things that God wants us to know from His Word.
Speaker A:So hope that you have a wonderful week.
Speaker A:We will be back next week with another Word of the Week.
Speaker A:God bless.
Speaker A:Hey, I really appreciate that you listen to the Word of the Week podcast.
Speaker A:If you have any questions about the podcast or about our church, Middletown Baptist Church, you can find more information about us on Facebook or YouTube or you can find the podcast on NBCPodcast.org you can contact me directly at Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.org stay tuned for future Word of the Week episodes where we dive deeper into words that impact our life according to scripture.
Speaker A:Thank you so much.
Speaker A:God bless.
Speaker A:We'll talk to you soon.
