Do You Have To Confess Sin?

[Lynx]

While considering your original post I missed something very important.

Jesus recognized that the two thieves were very different. One thief hurled insults at him; he blasphemed. Blasphemy is an unforgiveable sin. The other thief repented and received forgiveness from the Lord.
Now the very, very hard part. They both suffered the exact same penalty! This must shake our faith to its foundations.

This is a hard lesson, but it is also repeated many times in the First Testament. David lost four sons for his sin with Bathsheba, even after YHWH’s forgiveness. God forgives our spiritual debts when we trust in him, but the earthly consequences of our actions remain. There remains a physical debt that we still have to pay, even after spiritual redemption.

There is no escape; but there may be hope. The Bible says YHWH desires a “broken and contrite heart” more than any sacrifice. We may yet have the opportunity to mitigate, but not eliminate, our deserved punishment. We can make restitution to those we have harmed. We can seek earthly forgiveness from others through acknowledgement and repentance. We can work to relieve the suffering of others, not as a bargaining chip, but as an act of true sorrow and atonement. We and others will still suffer earthly punishment for our deeds.

Our merciful creator with his all-encompassing grace, may yet deal with us in justice and righteousness, even here on earth.

Yeah. Even after God told David "Bathsheba's baby will not live, because if he survived the enemies of the Lord would use it as a great opportunity to blaspheme" David still fasted and prayed. As David said, who knows if God may let him live after all?

 

[Webers.Home]

.
It's not easy to attain Heaven by means of the Roman Catholic religion. For
example it's believed that when a Catholic leaves this life with just one
un-absolved mortal sin on the books-- just one --they go straight to Hell; no
stopover in a purgatory. If that Catholic perchance had been 100% faithful
in their beliefs and practices for 40 years, it's all for naught just as if they'd
been a pagan the whole time.
_

 

[Seeker47]

.
It's not easy to attain Heaven by means of the Roman Catholic religion. For
example it's believed that when a Catholic leaves this life with just one
un-absolved mortal sin on the books-- just one --they go straight to Hell; no
stopover in a purgatory. If that Catholic perchance had been 100% faithful
in their beliefs and practices for 40 years, it's all for naught just as if they'd
been a pagan the whole time.
_

If my understanding is correct, most protestant denominations reject the concept of purgatory while our Catholic brothers and sisters do not. And I must ask, how this is different from a believer who rejects Christ and then dies, even after 40 years of belief? Do they not also face eternal separation from YHWH? I'm not sure I see the difference.

I do know God deeply loves all his creation and does not willingly loose anyone.

 

[Webers.Home]

.
It's not all that difficult for Catholics to leave this life with un-absolved
mortal sins on the books by means of laxity, procrastination, neglect, and/or
forgetfulness whereas renouncing Christ is never inadvertent nor due to
carelessness. It's an act that requires a conscious decision.
_

 

[SirSolaScriptura]

.
It's not easy to attain Heaven by means of the Roman Catholic religion. For
example it's believed that when a Catholic leaves this life with just one
un-absolved mortal sin on the books-- just one --they go straight to Hell; no
stopover in a purgatory. If that Catholic perchance had been 100% faithful
in their beliefs and practices for 40 years, it's all for naught just as if they'd
been a pagan the whole time.
_

It is ironic, hung in every Catholic Church is Jesus on the cross (crucifix) which says, "It is Finished," salvation is achieved by Grace, and yet what is starring them in the face they cannot accept. It is sad.

 

[Webers.Home]

.
I'd like to say a few words about 1John 1:5-9 but first about the concept of
joint principal.

Those two words aren't in the Bible verbatim but the concept is very
definitely implied. For example:

● Rom 6:3 . . Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into his death?

In other words; folks unified with Christ are accounted crucified with him so
that they no longer need fear the ultimate retribution because they already
faced their fair measure of justice on the cross.

● Rom 6:6-7 . . For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that
the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves
to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

● Gal 2:20 . . I am crucified with Christ

● Col 3:3-4 . . For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

So then, if all four of those verses are 100% the God's truth, they why are
folks unified with Christ required to comply with 1John 1:5-9?

Well; I see written, and I hear spoken, a lot about forgiveness, but rarely
ever see or hear a word about hygiene; to wit: 1John 1:9 & John 13:4-10.

Fellowship is mentioned four times in the first chapter of 1John-- twice at
verse 3, once at verse 6, and again at verse 7. The Greek word pertains to
partnership, i.e. participation.

In a nutshell; it is absolutely impossible for folks unified with Christ to end
up in perdition by neglecting to confess their sins-- either venial or mortal.
However, Christ has his standards; viz: if they would like to work with him,
and have a part in his ongoing mission per Matt 28:19-20, then confession is
essential because Christ prefers a team of clean associates rather than soiled.
_

 

[Seeker47]

Some final thoughts (I hope, these come at mid-night) on the “thieves” crucified with Christ.

Nearly all English Bible translations identify these two as “Criminals.” The Greek texts use the word “Malefactors” while in Hebrew that are called “Evildoers.” We know that Romans did not crucify criminals except perhaps for the most vial. Crucifixion was normally reserved for enemies of the kingdom like traitors or insurrectionists. These two appear not to meet those categories.

They must have been two really bad people who deserved their fate. If so, why didn’t Gods people exercise their Torah responsibilities? They clearly still used stoning during Christs time; picking up rocks in front of Jesus with intent to kill the “adulterous woman” near the temple and stoning Stephen a short time later as Saul, a committed Pharisee, approvingly looked on.

Can it be that God’s people had now fallen so far from the truth that they used Torah selectively, only achieve their own particular ends?

For those who have ears…..

 

[Dino246]

Sin thrives in secrecy. Confession removes the secrecy and therefore much of the power of sin. Confession only to God does not remove the secrecy. Confession to a sworn priest behind a veil doesn't remove the secrecy.

Face to face confession to another person removes the secrecy.

 

[Deuteronomy]

My main problem with a Confessio to another person is trust. We live in an age when you can ruin someone very quickly on social media and etc, something neither David, nor the Apostles had to worry about.

Hello SirSolaScriptura, perhaps it is best, then, when you feel the need to confess something to a brother or sister in Christ (instead of just to God alone), to confess it to one (or all) of your pastors and/or elders (as they will keep such things to themselves, especially if you ask them to).

For instance, all are welcome to come and meet privately with our pastors and elders at our weekly elders meeting for any number of reasons, confession, of course, being one of those reasons.

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)

 

[SirSolaScriptura]

Hello SirSolaScriptura, perhaps it is best, then, when you feel the need to confess something to a brother or sister in Christ (instead of just to God alone), to confess it to one (or all) of your pastors and/or elders (as they will keep such things to themselves, especially if you ask them to).

For instance, all are welcome to come and meet privately with our pastors and elders at our weekly elders meeting for any number of reasons, confession, of course, being one of those reasons.

God bless you!!

~Deuteronomy (David)

Indeed, or a Christian Counselor or Pastor who have the Confidence Clause that they cannot violate a confidence or lose their license.

 

[HealthAndHappiness]

The Apostle John says,
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (1 John 1:9).
Does he mean confess to God only? Or do you have to confess to another believer?
The Apostle James says,
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16).

The problem I have with confessing your sin to another believer is if you have a falling out, and because people are more inclined to betray one another due to this Age of Emotions, you could be telling someone something in confidence, and they use it to smear your reputation or harm you in other ways. We are not in times when Christians died for one another and allowed themselves to be fed to lions to spare each other, we are in a very wanton age, when people have a tendency to betray.

Even Jesus our Lord said,
"But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in man / in every person." (John 2:24-25).
Our Lord did not trust people, for he knew how frail man is.

I know in Roman Catholic Church Confession is sealed and a Priest if they leaked what was said would lose their post, but with scandals rocking the Roman Church, I would be afraid to spill my sins even with the Confidence Clause.

So I am finding confession very hard these days.. any ideas?

Jeremiah 3:13 is one of a number of verses on restoration. Psalm 32 comes to mind too. You picked the go to verse I share with new believers that need to be taught about restoration from the time they get saved.

By restoration, the Bible teaches a loss of fellowship, not salvation when the believer in Christ sins. Those restoration passages are specifically for the saved born again believer to apply.

After faith in Jesus Christ, we still have a sin nature and obviously sin.
What does that do?
It makes it tough to continue in fellowship with the Lord. We confess the sins and He forgives us based on the finished work if Christ.
Then our prayers will be listened to and answered.
David said, If regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.