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Old 06-09-2009, 10:31 AM
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BornAgainBibleBeliever514 BornAgainBibleBeliever514 is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreal
Posts: 100
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I voted yes.
I confess my sins to God as the Spirit convicts me of them.
I do not do this for salvation whatsoever, I already have that.
Some here have misunderstood another post I made about confession and fellowship with God. I guess I have a hard time expressing myself, and not enough time to make perfect posts, given that I am at the office... that's not an excuse, just a reason.

Confession doesn't alter my position in Christ, it doesn't add to my salvation.
What it does is draws me closer to Him. Like a father correcting his son, when the son admits he is wrong, and seeks to make changes towards the right guidance of the father, it brings the two closer together. I've experienced this with my earthly, physical father, and moreso with my heavenly Father as well.

I would like to quote part of Winman's post from the Lord's Supper thread, which accurately depicts my own belief:

Quote:
The simple fact is, we can and do grieve the Holy Spirit of God, and carrying around habitual sin without confessing it and putting it away is not a good place to be. These sins can not change our blessed position in God's family, but they can still have grave consequences in our daily lives and rob us of our joy. It seems to me that the idea of "fellowship" is part of this passage...

"If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 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." I John 1:6-7

It seems to me the context is God's children and sin...

"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" I John 2:1

I agree and rejoice with you 100% that positionally we are justified and "it is finished." However, we cannot confuse our positional forgiveness with the need for ongoing forgiveness and cleansing as we stumble in sin. Christians are still quite capable of any sin you can imagine; and that's why the writer of Ephesians mentions putting away bitterness, wrath, and anger, evil speaking etc. and tells his readers to "grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

When I got born again, ALL my sins were forgiven, past present and future, no doubt or question about that.
However, although sin is not imputed to me, I still sin in the flesh. Although I am passed from death into life, from condemnation into eternal life, there is still a penalty to pay for sin here in this present life (examples: 1Ti 3:6, 1 Cor 5:5, 1 Tim 19-20?).
The penalty is often in the form of detriment to your own spiritual growth, and sometimes hinders blessings from the Lord in the believer's life, or there are practical consequences in our lives, none of which changes our eternal destiny.
If I leave my sin unconfessed, it hinders me from a close fellowship, and makes it easier and easier to slip further into more sin. The more I am humble, convicted, contrite and even chastened, the closer I can be with Him.
Just like when I was a child: if I'd done something wrong against my parents, I would feel guilty, and would avoid them until the thing came out in the open and was dealt with. I couldn't fully enjoy the presence of the parent until my guilty conscience was dealt with.

Just like the adage: "Sin will keep you from the Book, but the Book will keep you from sin!"


Pro 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.