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Old 06-08-2009, 04:59 PM
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Forrest Forrest is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Texas, USA
Posts: 597
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fredoheaven View Post
Romans 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Romans 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Romans 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Greetings Brother!

I think it's significant that Paul answered his own question.
Romans 7:24-25 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
The way I read this passage is that Christ hath delivered me (us) once, for all time and there is absolutely nothing I could ever do to make myself any more delivered than I already am in Christ at this very moment.
Ephesians 1:7 – In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
Let me ask you some questions for your prayerful consideration. Do we have redemption and forgiveness through His blood according to the riches of His grace? Do we have it right now to the full? If so, why do you need to “confess” sins you are already forgiven for? Does a “believer” confess their sins in order to restore their fellowship with God? Is that what 1 John 1:9 really says? For years that is what I told people it meant. But that's not what it says.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Or do we confess our sins in order to restore our fellowship with God? What does the Bible say? Please consider what I am asking. Personally, I begin seeing this passage in 1 John differently as I grew in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. As I begin to receive by faith His preeminence in all things and my completeness in Him alone, I began to simply repent of sin and praise and thank Him for what He has already done at the cross.

It really is finished.

Why must we confess our sins to be cleansed from all unrighteousness when the Bible clearly says I'm already the righteousness of God in Christ? Be careful about going back to that “in order to restore fellowship with God” thing again. Remember, we are not told to confess our sins in order to restore fellowship. That is not what the Bible says.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Are we “…made the righteousness of God in him” only when we live in sinless perfection by confessing our sins? What happens to those believers who might overlook confessing a particular sin? (Thought, word, deed, attitude?) Are they out of fellowship with God, no longer in the light, and in darkness? Is that what the Holy Scripture is really teaching?
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If "walking in the light as he is in the light" here represents holy action, obedient submission, and sinless behavior in the life of a believer rather than positional reality then we must conclude that when we sin we are no longer in the light, no longer in fellowship with God through Christ, and no longer being cleansed by the powerful and precious blood of Christ and that confession is a requirement to reactivate the forgiveness of sins and cleansing effectiveness from all unrighteousness.

Again, what happens if we overlook a sin and fail to confess it? It’s all or nothing with God. God requires absolute sinless perfection. I don’t know about you but this reality causes me to thank God for the precious blood and body of Christ that was given for me on the cross. In Christ, I am forgiven, cleansed, and made the very righteousness of God all the time in the midst of personal sin. That's justification. I am not justified because I've stopped sinning. I'm justified even though I do sin.

This truth causes me to hate sin not love it. This truth makes me sensitive to right not insensitive. Most all this truth helps me to live without any condmnation. Christ hath made me the righteousness of God. Wow!