I know you find long posts tedious, but I've broken this down into bite-sized pieces for you
:
Let's take the above piece by piece:
Prince’s unbiblical view of grace leads him to reject the Christian practice of confessing sin. He writes, “In that very instance when you prayed the prayer of salvation all the sins that you would commit for your entire life were forgiven once and for all….Let me say this plainly: You do not need to confess your sins again and again to be forgiven” (emphasis in original)
A few things for you to ponder:
- What is required for the forgiveness of sins?
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (from Heb. 9)
- If the Blood of Christ did not provide for the forgiveness of all sins (not preaching universalism here - the gift of forgiveness must be received), then more blood MUST be shed for future sins, yes?
- Is Jesus coming back to shed more of His Blood, EVER? No? Why not?
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (from Heb. 9)
- Scripturally, what is the penalty for sin?
Death?
Turning from sin?
Requests to God for additional forgiveness?
- How many of the people who received forgiveness from Jesus while He ministered here on earth were required to confess their sins to Him first?
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.24 He [JP] reasons Paul did not write about confessing sins,25 and 1 John 1:9 does not apply to Christians but to Gnostics who did not believe sin existed. 26 Christ’s death is sufficient for making atonement for all the sins of the repentant, but when Christians stumble, confession of sin is the norm.
- Whether you agree or not about 1 John 1:9 being written with Gnostics in mind, you still have to reconcile HOW MANY sins were forgiven at the Cross. I don't disagree that confession of sin is the norm for Christians, but the question is what does Scripture require? Confession for more forgiveness? Again, what is required for forgiveness? The shedding of blood. Is it finished or isn't it?
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James instructs believers to “confess your sins to one another” (James 1:16; cf. Luke 11:4).
- James instructs believers to confess their sins to who? And for what purpose? Let's look at James 5 (not James 1):13-16:
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (from James 5)
Note that "he will be forgiven" comes before "confess your sins one to another". Why? Because the sin issue between God and the believer has already been dealt with. That portion of Scripture has to do with living in community with other believers - being transparent about sin with a trusted few in order to be prayed for and healed in those areas.
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Paul may not have explicitly given instructions to confess sin, but he does not condemn the practice. In fact, the statement, “If anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Gal. 6:1) implies the fallen brother’s confession.
- Confession to WHO? For what purpose? I deduce that it is for the same reason that James talks about - Paul is talking about living in community with other believers and being transparent about sinning for the purpose of receiving help to overcome sinning, not for the forgiveness from God for sin.
Again, the forgiveness issue between God and man was settled at the Cross. If you are in Christ, you are a forgiven person, and depends on what Christ has already accomplished and you receiving that Work, and does not depend on your ability or willingness to 'keep short accounts with God' by confession and the repeated asking of forgiveness for sins already forgiven.
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The idea that 1 John 1:9 applies to Gnostics but not to Christians has no basis in reality. Rather than denying sin’s existence, Gnostics believed matter is evil.27 Moreover, 1 John 1 is not addressing a Gnostic error, but broadly defining darkness and light. Those in darkness say they have no sin (v. 8), but those in light confess their sin (v. 9). The idea is this: “The proper Christian attitude to sin is not to deny it but to admit it, and then to receive the forgiveness which God has made possible and promises to us.”28
- The questions that must be answered in order to properly represent the Gospel remains:
How many sins were forgiven at the Cross?
If further forgiveness is required, what MUST occur, according to Scripture?
Is that going to happen? Why or why not? (Again, refer to Scripture for the answers to these questions.)
- Joseph Prince does not preach the denial of sin in the believer's life. He does preach - and properly so - that ALL sin was dealt with at the Cross, and that we are secure in the forgiveness that we have received, even when we mess up.
BECAUSE that is the case, we can ALWAYS approach the throne of Grace in our times of need (struggles with sinning):
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (from Heb. 4)
Please note that I'm not going to Prince's teaching on any of the above, but going to Scripture to answer the questions that must be raised regarding the above assertions. I pray that you would be able to set aside the biases you hold (we all have them), and look afresh at the above.
Grace and peace,
-JGIG