Forgiveness Every Time

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” — 1 John 1:9

Have you ever experienced a spiritual victory that brought you to the mountaintop only to fall suddenly into the same pattern of sin? The feeling of failing God quickly grips our hearts when we don’t live up to the idealistic standards set by God’s word and (hopefully) the Christian community around us. We can beat ourselves up internally and start to believe the lie that we are disqualified from God’s kingdom because of our mistakes.

I’m reminded today that God knows our weakness and tendency to fall short. He knows we will never be able to live up to his standard of holiness alone. The grip of sin on this world is unavoidable. Our nature is broken and bent on self-gratification rather than the purposes of holiness in Christ. Instead of merely excluding us from his kingdom, God offers a way to overcome sin and shame and live in forgiveness. It is because of his work in our lives that we can be pure and free.

It takes immense work to keep it together without the help of the Holy Spirit. Some people have actually succeeded to some degree in maintaining an external presentation of righteousness. I’ve found that this is either a whitewashing of an unsurrendered heart or an attempt to live in a bubble and remove all distractions. Neither option is really worth living, in my opinion, and both deny the power of God!

Instead, we are called to lean into the messiness of surrender. This leads to our continual sanctification in Christ Jesus. Perhaps in the fullness of abiding, this surrender could become ongoing practice resulting in a lifelong increase of glory and a decrease in sin. Still, such a lifestyle is only possible with the power of confession and surrender.

What keeps us from immediately confessing our sins to God? There are many reasons, but they all fall into two categories: fear and pride.

Fear says that God won’t accept me if I let him see what I’ve done and who I am. This response hides from God, and in moments of desperation comes groveling in repentance like the prodigal song. Pride says I don’t need God to forgive me because I can be holy on my own. This response seeks to prove to God that they can achieve religious goals. Pride tries to impress its way out of punishment.

God calls us to come to him in humility. However, this humility is founded on love and compassion, not shame or punishment. God has built forgiveness into the system so deeply that John can declare under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that God will faithfully and justly forgive you every time you confess your sin.

So what are you waiting for? There is no better way to experience the grace of God than to live a life of confession. Those who are forgiven much will love me.

Let confession be a doorway into abiding.