If We Confess Our Sins
Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. (Jude 1:2)
Today’s program is called, If We Confess Our Sins. Let’s turn to 1 John 1:1, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us. Chapter 2, verse 1, My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we don’t, we are not forgiven. This scripture is talking about after you are saved and born from above and confessed and repented of all your past sins, as you are walking on with Jesus every day. If you sin: chapter 2, verse 1, …And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. This is talking about walking in the light: we have fellowship one with another and with God. He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth: we don’t have fellowship with Him or with one another, but if we walk in the light, when the light exposes sin in our life, and we confess our sin to God and to one another, He is faithful to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness: the Blood of Jesus, when we confess it, cleanses us from all sin, through faith in His shed Blood, white as snow, and we walk on in fellowship with Him, and with the Father, and with one another.
The Apostle Paul said, I exercise myself daily to have a conscience void of offense toward God and man. How did Paul exercise himself? Heb 4:14, Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. If we don’t confess our sins, we are not forgiven and we are not cleansed and our conscience is defiled and our fellowship is broken, with God and with one another. And, if we walk on with a defiled conscience, we are walking in darkness, until we repent, and confess our sins. If, because of the evil in our heart, we refuse to repent,
and will not come to the light, we will be condemned. You say, “I’m a Christian; I’m under grace.” Well, let’s listen to what Jesus had to say, John 3:17, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.
This is so important, brothers and sisters! We must understand this and do it, or we will not have fellowship with God or with each other. This is what is wrong with the Church; this is why our fellowship is often times not genuine. It’s not some complicated theology or doctrinal discourse. Psalm 32:1, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. No, sin is not imputed to you, because of the sacrifice of Jesus, when you confess your sin to God, and to each other, and when you forgive and love one another. You will have fellowship, with one another, and with the one who gave Himself upon the Cross and died for your sins, and with His Father, who sent Him to save you from them, so that you might have fellowship with Him, and His Son and with each other in Him. Our fellowship is in love, with God and with each other, and our responsibility in love is to confess our sins and keep our conscience void of offence toward God and man. Then we can walk in the light; in fellowship, and in love.
It’s a matter of love. If you love Me, Jesus said, keep My commandments, and this is My commandment, that you love one another. If we allow sin to continue in our life; in our conscience, against God and against one another, we don’t have that blessed fellowship, and we don’t have the love of God. Just ask God to show you if you have any sin, against Him, or against anyone, and when He shows you, repent!, to Him or to your brother or sister. 1 John 1:8, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:26, These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.
But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing, that’s the Holy Spirit, teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. This letter was written to Christians who were being deceived by liars and false prophets. So it is very important for you, if you are a Christian in this hour, to take heed to these Words and consider very soberly what they say. God used these very scriptures, in His great mercy, to open my eyes, and deliver me out of the control and deceit and lies of a false prophet who I was in bondage to for many years, especially these Words in 1 John 3:7, Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins, or practices sin, is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Remember what Jesus said, If you don’t believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. If you won’t believe His Words, and the Words of His apostles, you will die in your sins.
In the matter of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, King David, through the deceit of his heart, thought that He was ok: he had gotten Uriah the Hittite out of the way, until Nathan the prophet came to him and told him a story. (See 2 Sam 12:1-14) Let’s turn to Psalm 51:1, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com .
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.