Concerning SIN, the confession of sin, and defeating sin

Concerning SIN, the confession of sin, and defeating sin.

IN RESPONSE TO THIS MEMBER’S COMMENT:

We will sin until we are in eternity with the Lord, when sin will no longer exists. It’s important to confess our sins to Him daily, perhaps begin each day surrendering our will to His. It’s possible to sin less and less though…

ANSWER:

I agree that we certainly will sin less as our minds and hearts get renewed by the living Word of God and our thoughts and actions are brought under the obedience of the Word.

As concerning confession, it is good to sense remorse for sin and come to God with a contrite heart, but there is no need (or law) dictating the importance and ‘must’ regarding daily confessing our sins. Please don’t misunderstand me. I come to God with remorse and sorrow for falling in moments of weakness, but it will not affect my relationship with God if I do not confess my sins every day. Why? Because God already sees you as absolutely righteous because of Christ. His righteousness has already been applied to you. Your flesh remains corrupt and prone to sin, but your spirit is perfect in His sight. If one places oneself under a law (or under a rule) to confess sins, as with any other rule to try to work out your own righteousness, all it will do is bring condemnation. We must be careful not to have laws dictate our relationship with God. We should aim to come out from under law as children and to grow up in the truth of the Word and walk in the liberty of the spirit as sons of God. To be bound by the dictates of laws which can never be perfectly followed anyways is not the way God indented for us to walk.

I praise God that in Christ, and through His blood, I am justified and pure in the sight of God and God does not account sins against me today, 2Cor.5:19. In moments of weakness when I sin, I sense remorse and sorrow for falling, but that sin is not held against me because it is nailed to the cross of Christ and it is His perfect life that has been imputed to me. Confession of sin is a fruitless exercise if we truly believe that our sins are obliterated by the blood of Christ. Stay in relationship with God through His Word and focus on obedience to Him and there is no need to focus on sin and confession of it.

POSTSCRIPT:

It is important to also mention that God’s grace does not give us license to sin. Paul makes this clear,

Rom 6:15-16  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.  (16)  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  … (19)  I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

There is one sure way to mortify sin in the flesh. In actual fact it is the ONLY way to overcome sin. What is it? See what Paul says here,

Rom 8:12-14  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  (13)  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  (14)  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

According to Paul’s writings, to walk by the spirit is to obey the living Word within us.

Look again at this passage:

Rom 6:16-17 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  (17)  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Obedience unto righteousness. Guess what that is? It is obedience to the written Word. Verse 17 above says, “but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.” That form of doctrine!!! Yes, Paul’s doctrine, after you have received it into your heart by studying it and meditating it. You see, when we read the Word and fill ourselves with it, then it starts to renew our mind. It starts to influence our thoughts and actions. Giving ourselves over to obey the knowledge that the Word stablishes within us is what we obey unto righteousness.

So, for clarity, we obey that form of doctrine that is inside us. As we do, we walk by the Spirit and mortify the deeds of the flesh. We obey the living Word by allowing it to work itself out of us. This is liberty and freedom in grace.

Can you see that walking in the Spirit is not some ultra-spiritual force that moves you left and right, or brings you visions or voices in your head! There is no mysticism or deep spiritual senses involved. It is simply a matter of knowing and applying God's Word in situations with the desire to please God through simple but committed obedience to Paul's grace doctrine. Doing this will start to mortify the deeds of the flesh as the Word renews your mind and influences your actions. This is our duty as believers, to come to the knowledge of the truth, 1Tim.2:4.