Confession

Confession

7/31/21

What concept comes to mind when we hear this word being used?  Usually, it has reference to having to do with someone telling the truth about what occurred or what was being planned.  For the most part, this word means to tell or to share with others a specific event or happening that we did sometime in the past.  But what we forget or do not realize is that it is a word that represents so much more, a good thing and testament one that can actually bring about eternal life.  It should be taken into consideration that this word means astonishingly more and in this context taken more seriously.  In this sense, God confesses to us every day His faithfulness and mercies which is a part of His definition.  So when we use this word, we need to look at its meaning in this context, Covenant for it is this expression that brings us together with God.  So, weekly or even daily comings to God with meaningless confessions are just that, meaningless, and is a waste of time because our heart has no intention of changing, a state which shall cost us eternity.

For those who have been associated with the church, the word confession is one that prominently comes into the forefront of our lives so much that it has the everyday opportunity of becoming an idol within our spiritual definition.  Yet, this word has been taken out of its true meaning, the one that we should be willing to surrender our lives to and to live under no matter what comes our way.  Instead, we have cheapened its covering and how it lives inside our hearts; furthermore, we have no intentions of studying this word's meaning and turn it into a vital and life-sustaining part of our existence.  We have watered this word down into a "telling things" to someone else with no remorse needed or wanted, a short sad prayer and lyrical verse a couple of times, and "bam" all is okay until the next hour or day when our confessed sin returns without any hesitation.  

One may think that these words only apply to one or two denominations but God says we need to think again for this type of mentality that forgiveness is a revolving door and can be applied each time we have a guilty thought or execution of sin.  One does not have to be a member of a certain denomination to practice such antics, look at yourself and take a close examination of what lies within your heart, and what you shall see is a darkened or blackened heart that has not true blood supply left.  Telling someone that is in a position of pastoral care does not make that person any more worthy of providing sound salvation for what you have done over the past few weeks or months.  Telling is totally different from confession, for telling someone just allows your mind to ease and to relax with something you know is wrong; you know, it is the identical setting of showing the public that you are the dutiful religious type who wants everyone to believe you are living correctly and what you are doing is sanctioned by God.  Through this superficial lying state, the livelihood of the word confession has become an abomination before God, because we have no intentions of living according to its Ways.

The verses for this article tell another story about the deepness of the meaning of the word confession, the True and biblical meaning of such an important word.  Confession should be taken as a holy word, one that when spoken, comes strictly from the depths of the sinful heart for help in receiving restoration into holiness.  When we study these two passages, we will find that each one contains a specific and unique setting that God uses to grab our attention about the distinct importance of this word in our lives.  There are two passages for this article, one in the Old Testament and the other in the New Testament, and are as follows:

Genesis 15:17-18

"And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp passed between those pieces.  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:"

1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

It is well known that the outline for Covenant is written here in this passage of Scripture, and while it is a familiar passage, it is not really taken very seriously because few ministers teach on this subject.  Why is this?  Why would the most important item and definition of God be misaligned and ignored, I believe that the answer to that question lies within what Satan has done to establish enough deep interest in this subject in our hearts long enough that we have deemed it a minor topic and not really worthy of our time.  The New Testament passage also deals with this word but since Greek is a very specific language we should know that what this verse states are of vital importance and that it deals with the exact same topic and subject as our Old Testament passage does.

In Genesis, God makes it clear that He is establishing a covenant between Him and mankind.  How can God do such a thing and it be long-lasting enough and endure all tests?  God does not just tell Abram about this covenant, or try to explain it with words alone; no, He demonstrates His seriousness with specific instructions about a few certain animals a few verses previously.  It should be understood that when God says something and speaks it into existence it cannot be undone or changed from its original definition.  The word "covenant" that is used in Genesis comes from the Hebrew word "berit" and means covenant, alliance, pledge, constitution, ordinance, and league.  All of these descriptions of the word "berit" are defining terms and can be used in order to allow for understanding about how God works when it comes to His commitment to humans.  God is giving Abram a verbal and descriptive definition of Himself, one that will set into motion a partnership that cannot be broken.  We all know that God cannot change so through this truth concerning the originator of the covenant this agreement can only be violated by the other party involved; remember, if one party cannot move then any agreement cannot be actually broken.  

In the 1 John 1:9 verse, we see the word "confess" being used.  The Greek definition of this word comes from "homologomen" which is the first-person plural in nature and it means to assent, Covenant, and acknowledge.  When one assents to something it means they agree to it or to the principles to which the agreement contains.  Another part of its definition is the word for Covenant, and we all know what that word means and how specific its meaning is.  It is this directive that God wants us to understand, that when we confess anything it comes from our heart and is a statement of application, an application that has eternal meanings to it.  See, ever since God physically made Covenant with mankind He has not violated such pact, it has been mankind that has been the one to test the limitations of God's mercy and grace.  God confessed His grace and mercy to us through His Covenant with us and even though He knows we are sinners He expects the same level of confession to Him on a continual basis.

It is a known fact that God already knows we are sinners and that our hearts are eternally evil, but this is where Covenant begins its extension, not its ending.  It is here that God wants us to confess to Him our sins so that He can forgive them and wash them away like they had never been an issue before.  Confession is a choice, a decision that means we shall not ever do that particular sin again and that it is our will to please God in every way concerning such iniquity.  Unfortunately, we have watered-down this confession of faith into a telling of our events so that we may have no guilt or corrective action besides a few words in prayer in order to be forgiven; or at least that is what we have been taught to believe and do.  Believe God folks when He says there is a huge difference between a telling of sins and confession of sins, one is lovingly and voluntarily done and the other is done at the time of judgment.  Ironically, all you are doing when you tell of your sins is just preparing yourself for those words to come back to you again some time down the road.

If a confession becomes continual telling there is no confession present or meant at all.  Nor should this tactic or procedure be used in such a manner to be thought of as a replacement for the confession itself.  When the practice of confession becomes a ritual, it automatically becomes part of a physical or human institutional procession that only can claim bells and whistles in a church service; in other words, just noise.  God is an alive God and One who wants a total relationship with on a minute-by-minute basis.  This can only be achieved by having our lives raised up to His level, not having God lower Himself to ours.  Confession amounts to being completely open and honest when it comes to allowing God to intervene in places where we need correction.  This is where confession becomes the centerpiece of Covenant for it remarkably and wholly extends itself over our lives to cover us in our sinful ugliness.

It is this process that begins to grow within our lives and our desires change to please God, not disappoint Him.  The desire to become a mature servant for Christ becomes our objective and we continually look to how we can improve on this measure and draw closer to God during this process.  It is not a popular move where the world is concerned, the world shall fight you on many levels and try to make you return back to your telling of ways.  Furthermore, it is this defined status of this word that places us in a separate category from the world, for confession cannot align itself with the world which means it cannot be broken only violated; once again, Covenant.

Confession should be taught in every church building and in every heart of the Church.  It is an eternal word and it needs to be understood properly.  It is not a whimsical word that can be used to rid of our guilt in the world, but one that should draw us closer to God every day that we walk this planet.  It should also serve as the foundation of the mission that we must follow when we witness to those who do not know God or have any type of relationship with Christ.  Confession is not a simple two or three-minute conversation with someone in secret, but it is a public change of life that should be recognized by all who come into contact with us.  Repentance comes not through any simple or superficial prayer either, but it comes from the heart and it should be meant when said.  Yes, the words of the prayer can be simple and easy to come up with, but its meaning must come from the heart, and a complete stoppage and about-face must accompany it or it means nothing but for show.  For the season that is about to be upon us shall expose the superficial chaff of religion and it shall be blown away with the spiritual wind of God according to His Word.  None shall escape such a storm and if we are not truly grounding in Covenant our lives shall be so shaken we may never recover.

Church it is time we stop skimming the surface of the Word of God and begin to study its true meaning, we have played around with the Bible for centuries and look at where it has gotten us.  We have no spiritual strength, nor do we even know how to draw spiritual food from this eternal source of eternal life.  This word in 1 John follows the same pattern as in Genesis 15, nothing has changed from the Scripture in Genesis until 1 John in the seriousness of confession and covenant.  Also, we cannot forget the remaining chapters and verses that fall outside of our text confinement, for the entire Bible is the definition of God and it is our responsibility to witness to the dying world through His Word.  We have had plenty of time to prepare our lives for the witnessing of the world, it is time now to face it with the Covenant we have and go forward and be an eternal confession of Truth.

DLB

I Don't Believe It

I Don't Believe It

7/18/21

How deep do humans believe in a subject or in people?  From history, we have learned that some beliefs may lead to death while others for the most part have little or no consequences to them.  However, when it comes a time when a challenge will arise and we must take a stand for what we believe, it is a common human action.  Many people believe this strongly against God and His presence in our lives, for how can someone so good allow such hideous activities to occur?  God does not always show up when mankind expects Him to, nor does He always grant our wishes in the manner to which we expect.  But God has never left us nor will He ever as long as we continue to believe in Him and allow Him to be the existing part of our lives.  God proves Himself correct as every day passes but in order for us to understand His Ways, we must first take a step of faith and trust His presence and leave all doubt behind.

There have been numerous times that I have heard this phrase from those around me expressing how they do not believe in God or that He ever existed in the first place.  They become very intense and emotional when someone brings up or mentions God's name and they are quick to point out that they do not want to talk about Him at all.  Many times they then go on a rant about why they do not believe in God and why they believe that anyone who does is lunatics, idiots, or candidates for insane asylums.  They will argue and call people names when they try to have a debate or conversation about God with them, usually ending up with an argument and leaving mad at each other.  What they do not want to understand is that they can believe what they wish for it is their choice to do so, but this choice not to believe in God does not make them correct.

It is a bold statement from someone who says they have been around for all eternity, that they are present today and that they shall always be around for the future of eternity.  Being convinced of something is a human gift that serves its purpose on its own and for its own.  Once again, that does not mean that you are automatically correct.  Do you remember a fellow in history called Galileo Galilei?  He was a 16th-century Italian astronomer, physicist, and engineer who lived in Pisa.  His searching led to the understanding that the earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa as the Church and some astronomers believed it did.  It caused enough rift between both the religious and scientific communities that Galileo was shunned by both sides and basically exiled from all society.  So much so that he was placed on trial and found guilty resulting in a grossly amount of punishment for these beliefs.  Even years later, when Galileo was on his deathbed, it was approved that he could be buried in the church courtyard, but that decision was overturned by the current pope and all plans for his burial had to be made elsewhere.

It took time after Galileo had died that scientists proved that Galileo was correct in his presentations concerning the earth orbiting the sun and not vice versa.  This opened up many further studies that eventually proved that space was a vast science that many had no idea how to study or much less comprehend.  It is safe to say that with all the technology that we have to look deep into outer space we still have little information about exactly what is located where.  The pictures we see from far away places astound us and invigorate our imaginations furthering our desires to know more, yet we quickly say that there is no God or that He ever existed?  Our passage tells us a different story, one that gives a glimpse of how things were created, not only in our lives but in other worlds as well.  Our passage today is Isaiah 44:6 and goes as follows:

Isaiah 44:6

"Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God."

Hebrew

"Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me."

God asks us a question today, and the question is this: do you completely believe that I do not exist or that I have no say in your lives?  How many of us know people who really have no belief in God or that He is always around us?  I know I have some co-workers and other friends that have that thinking and belief, and I watch their lives unfold I cannot help but have a sinking feeling because almost every day I see them with gloomy eyes and sad faces, oozing their innards out with nothing filling them back up.  It amazes me that people who take countless breaths each day and create new items to improve the quality of life fail to recognize just who gave us the ability to perform such precious destinations.  This process is a pathway that all of us have within our hearts, humans by creation are curious, long to know more, and search for answers to the unknown.  There is no logical perspective or even proven point that determines we came from ooze or all of a sudden came into perfect human form in an instant alone.  If so, why haven't we perfected such imperfections over this millions of years time frame?  This is a lie from the pit of hell, in that Satan wants this type of belief to run through our lives, for doubt is the single most effective disobedient act that will separate us from the Truth about our lives and purpose for existence.

As long as Satan can fixate in our hearts that God is not the God of Isaiah 44:6 and who He says He is, then he has us on a puppet system and can control our every move until God cuts those strings of slavery.  What does this actually mean, you ask?  It simply means that this verse states that there is only one God and that is god, which means that any other "god" that is proclaimed is made up or fake in every aspect of its existence.  A made-up god can have the capability of "changing" its behavior, looks, temperament, size, shape, and color at any moment without any real reason given.  How can any stability be present in such a state?  Yes, it allows for situational changes and off-the-cuff quick law claims, but that in itself is self-serving alone and shall vary with each person believing in such a frail god.  Plus, there is an origin to it, a humanly created thing that has the capability of coming and going whenever and where ever it chooses.  This is a disaster in the making yet so many people fall for such laws and gods.  Humans creating a god that serves situational standards is not an advantage of life, it is a positional and situational idol that will fade at a moment's notice and leave you high and dry without any protection or defense.  This concocted god is whimsical at best, satisfying one's pleasures on a superficial and baseless foundation.

Are we this naive and superficial that we set our standards on a god of pleasure instead of the God of eternal wisdom and courage?  Any god who is whimsical cannot honestly claim to be any type of defender, for its contingency is based upon itself, not for you.  In the first portion of this verse, God mentions that He is the Redeemer of Israel, this means that He does not leave when times become tough or when it looks dark on the horizon.  God has always stated that He is an eternal God, one who shall never leave you.  He cannot leave you for He does not have the ability to change His positions on anything, period!  

In this passage, the time stamp is of course in the Old Testament which means that the standard of separation is Israel.  Today the example of separation is the Church both of which are called to live and to witness as a separated eternal entity from the world.  Unfortunately, the Church has fallen into the same type of living conditions as Israel did, for we have allowed so many personal gods to infect our lives that their presence has been granted access to the Church's heart with false deities and doctrines to cloud our walk in Christ and to complete His mission through us.  Just as Israel had lost her mission to be the example against the world, we have done the exact same thing; scarily, many things in an identical manner.  The ultimate lesson of proudly and boldly stating that we do not believe there is a God even though all of our foundational upbringings taught us differently.

Let's take this Truth a bit deeper, and proclaim that God has always been and shall always be no matter how long mankind may inhabit existence.  In all honesty, our sinful, limited, and finite minds cannot honestly comprehend such a state of existence; therefore, how can we honestly project that what the Bible says is incorrect, especially the details and other items about God?  If one would study the Word of God thoroughly they would find out that many of the same issues and problems that Israel faced in the Old Testament, many of the same deteriorating living conditions, and devastation occur in our societies each day today.  What is so ridiculously fascinating is that the Church of today is demonstrating the exact same attitude toward the warnings that have been given to them as Israel did so long ago.  Are we to believe that we are just as naive to the warnings from God as Israel?  It sure does seem like our attitude is the same.

The challenge of the Modern Church is to change such settings, but unfortunately, we have fallen in line with the Early Church in that we have caught ourselves up in a denomination war and have turned to the world for help in sustaining the "lead" over others.  This passage tells the truth about God and because of our silly foolishness when it comes to God, we have failed to show the world that what the Bible says about God is the truth and not some mythical god-like being that does not exist.  How come we have chosen to discredit this verse, thus the definition of God with our own selfish pride?  Many times throughout the Bible, God states that He is first, foremost, and only Living God, so why does He continually remind us of this?  It is because humans have the habit of understanding short-sided versions of life, superficial ones that do not require deep and constant learning.  

Sadly, the Church has fallen into this category and has accepted many other gods before God and has created a conundrum of failings that she no longer sees as pitfalls, but as opportunities to be closer to the world.  The advances in life should never be a hindrance to the Church or her mission that she is supposed to complete but to remind us that there is so much more to learn about God and when we learn about God He shall provide new information and knowledge to help us truly defeat our problems.  Today, we hear that there is no God at all, that He never existed or that He died a long time ago, or that He has left us hanging out to dry.  Also, their belief that God does not exist gets support from Christians who do not live according to the Ways of God, thus building up the false claim that God does not exist.  This action of ours does not make these nonbelievers correct but promotes a lie to be correct an eternal lie that all of us shall answer for one day.

Many people fail to understand what is really going on in our world, passing it off as changing of the times, climate control, a new moral standard, etc but what we miss is that God is giving us warnings for what is about to arrive.  We are being bled dry of all kinds of resources and we totally ignore the reason why this is occurring.  In our passage, Isaiah writes to the people a statement from God that he should not have to do for they should know it to be true.  Also, God should not have me writing and reiterating this verse to a people, a nation, and The Church for something that we were founded upon.  Yet, I write what God tells me to, and sometimes the subjects are hard and difficult to transfer, but I know I must be obedient and do what I am commissioned to do.  Church, we have fallen away from the standard and plumb line that God told us to be and if we do not understand this now, we shall in the very near future but not in a setting such as we have today.  Yes, times are difficult and uncertain now, but in a short time, things shall be totally out-of-control and in pieces.  Repent and return to God NOW!  Not tomorrow or next week for God does not want to see us have to confess before Him that I did not believe it.

DLB