Welcome to Hank’s Place
When we last spoke about repentance we saw the huge difference between knowing we have been saved and kept by God’s grace – versus thinking we have to work to stayed saved. Friend, we don’t have to keep up our end of the bargain – because it’s not a bargain and we can’t keep even one little aspect of any of God’s commands. Surely the entire Old Testament teaches us that, right?!
We have no strength to offer to God. And repayment — well, we have no means of repayment, either. All that we are, all that we have, comes from God, by grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10. Turning TO Jesus your punishment bearer and sin taker away when something’s gone wrong in your life – is Divine!
We find another word that is often misunderstood: confession. Many people believe you have to tell God your dirty, evil, ungodly hidden secrets before you can hope to get any help from the Almighty. You can’t keep secrets from God! If you are committing sins, He knows. The best you are doing is practicing deception and denial.
The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo, which means “to say the same thing as” and then “agree, admit, acknowledge.” Context determines the precise emphasis of the word. Thus, it can mean to acknowledge sin as well as to confess or acknowledge someone as something, like Jesus as your sin sacrifice and substitute.
1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins…” you know the rest. Well it’s written primarily to unbelievers (read the whole context carefully), but if the Holy Spirit is letting you know something is not right in your walk my friend, it’s a super thing to “homologeo.” Verbalize faith in His goodness. Acknowledge the foolishness of your disobedience. Thank and praise your Heavenly Father that at Calvary you have already been forgiven.
Because of Jesus, God is no longer counting our sins against us. 2 Corinthians 5:19. As a believer, you have already been forgiven. That doesn’t mean it’s ok to continue in disgusting stuff my friend. With your new nature, you’ll find you are agreeing with God – that stuff you thought was great – once the light of the Holy Spirit illuminates it – well, you’ll see it for what it is, and you’ll be loudly thanking God for His grace and forgiveness! Homologeo today my friend, and COME ALIVE!
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