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What Confession Really Means...And Why It Changes Everything · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Good morning, y'all. It's friendly.
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  Welcome back to In the Stillness.
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  Thanks for joining me on today's podcast episode.
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  Today we're going to be continuing in First John chapter
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  1. And this is such a needed
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  reminder, I believe, especially if you have ever wrestled with
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  guilt, shame, or even feeling distant from God.
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  I really was thinking about during my quiet time, how easy
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  it is to either minimize sin or on the opposite end, to feel so
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  crushed by it and defeated. And so this passage that we're
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  going to be in, it brings us back to truth both about our
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  condition and ultimately about God's heart.
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  So we're going to be reading from chapter 1, verses 8 through
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  10. If we boast that we have no sin,
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  we're only fooling ourselves and our strangers to the truth.
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  But if we freely admit our sins when His light uncovers them, He
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  will be faithful to forgive us every time.
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  God is just to forgive us our sins because of Christ, and He
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  will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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  If we claim that we're not guilty of sin when God uncovers
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  it with His light, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
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  So once again, John is super direct in the way that he
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  writes. There's a few big things that
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  stood out to me here that I'm going to go through.
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  First of all, we are all capable of sinning.
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  John says that clearly, if we say we have no sin, we're
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  deceiving ourselves. And something I jotted down was
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  talking about how in the commentary that I was reading,
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  the false teachers at the time basically believed that people
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  did not have a natural inclination or tendency to sin.
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  So they were teaching this and therefore did not take sin
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  seriously. They were kind of brushing it
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  under the rug and honestly, in a different format.
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  I think that we can still do that today.
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  It may be not as loud, but it can be in how we live.
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  Because this can be seen in minimizing sin, maybe justifying
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  them or avoiding calling things what it actually is.
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  And truthfully, all humans are sinners by nature and by
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  practice. However, this is when the gospel
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  comes in. Because of Jesus Christ, because
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  of his blood, we are no longer identified by our sin.
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  Our sins are mistakes in the past, in the present, and in the
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  future. They're completely forgiven.
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  So yes, we are capable of sinning, but we're no longer
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  bound to that sin and also we don't have to fall into it every
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  time. Scripture is so clear that there
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  is always a way out. In 1st Corinthians 10 verse 13,
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  it talks about that. So we are not in bondage to our
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  sin anymore and there is a choice.
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  There is always a crossroads when you face that decision.
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  The second thing is, confession is not about earning God's
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  acceptance. This part really stood out to
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  me. Confession is meant to free us,
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  not to trap us in fear. I think some people can confess
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  the same sins over and over because of that feeling of guilt
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  or fear that they're missing something and that if they don't
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  confess it perfectly that that makes them risk losing their
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  salvation. But it is so important to
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  realize that is not the heart of God because our relationship
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  with Jesus Christ is secure. We don't confess because we're
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  afraid that God will reject us or remove our salvation.
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  We confess so that we can enjoy closeness and intimacy with the
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  Father. Again.
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  I wrote this in my notes. Confession removes the barrier
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  like a guilty conscience that gets in the way of intimacy with
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  God. Because really, think about it.
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  It's hard to be close with someone if you always feel like
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  you're walking on egg shells or you're having to hide things
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  because you don't know how they're going to react.
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  The truth is, God already knows your sin.
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  He already knows your weaknesses and your struggles.
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  So your confession to Him is not informing Him.
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  It's actually agreeing with him. And that leads into the third
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  thing that I want to talk about. True confession includes
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  repentance. It's not just saying, OK, yeah,
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  God, I'm sorry I messed up. But it's shifting to a heart
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  posture of I don't want to stay in this.
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  I don't want to keep living this way.
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  Think about it like this. If you were genuinely
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  confessing, you would not plan to keep doing the same thing and
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  just seek temporary forgiveness. That checked me a little in a
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  good way, because real confession is saying God.
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  I see this the way that you see it.
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  It is sin and it is separating me from you and I genuinely need
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  your help to turn from it. It's not in our own strength,
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  but it's relying on His power to overcome it.
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  The next time that we face it, the next time we face that
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  obstacle. Another thing that I loved
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  reflecting on was we are not to run from God.
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  We are called to run to Him. I think so often when we sin,
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  our instinct or our first response is to pull away.
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  We feel the shame, we feel distance and we hide.
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  Think about it in the Garden of Eden.
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  But James 4 verse 8 says come near to God and He will come
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  near to you. So God is not pushing you away.
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  He wants to forgive you. He wants to restore you.
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  That's why it says He is always faithful and just to forgive.
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  He is so willing, you guys. He's so willing to restore our
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  first love, passion for him because He wants that closeness
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  with you too. And to round it out, I want to
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  talk about how confession brings us back into alignment with the
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  truth. Because when we admit our sin
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  and confess, we are agreeing that sin is actually sin.
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  We're choosing to not hide it, and we're also recognizing our
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  desperate need for the Lord's power.
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  It keeps our hearts tender and soft because we can only confess
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  what we're truly aware of. But when God does reveal
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  something, we're faced with a choice and decision.
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  We can either ignore it, we can brush it off, or we can come
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  into agreement with Him. It admit our mistakes and when
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  we do that, it leads to restoration.
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  It cleanses us, it purifies our conscience and our heart before
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  him. So with all of that, let's go
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  ahead and move into prayer. Dear God, thank You that You are
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  so faithful and just to forgive us of our sins every single
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  time. Thank You that we don't have to
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  continue living in guilt or shame or fear.
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  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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  We get to live in freedom and closeness with You.
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  Would You help us to just be honest about our sin, but also
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  learn how to be confident in Your grace?
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  May we have hearts that run to You quickly, not away from You.
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  Would you aid us, God, to reject what is pulling us away from You
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  when we are faced at a crossroads between choosing Your
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  way and our flesh's desires? I pray that we would be governed
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  by the Spirit, that we would be led by You, and that You would
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  empower us to choose what is pleasing and honorable to you.
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  God, may we walk in the truth of who you've called us to be and
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  live lives worthy of the calling that you have placed on our
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  lives. We praise you, we thank you, we
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  surrender our hearts to you today.
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  God, in Jesus name, Amen. OK guys, well that's today's
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  episode. I hope that y'all can take some
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  things away, really learn as I did in my quiet time, and sit
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  with the word of truth and ask God to continue speaking to your
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  heart. I will see y'all on the next
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  episode.