Why do I have to continually confess my sins if they have been forgiven?

It’s important to remember that we’re dealing with two separate issues; our sins judicially and our sins in real time.

Jesus Christ is our advocate, our defense attorney, our mediator. His blood sacrifice on the cross satisfied the Father’s holy wrath regarding our sins past, present, and future. Jesus’ suffering and death was a plea to the Father for our vindication and forgiveness. Jesus went to trial on our behalf before the Father and declared us “not guilty”. The Lord accepted the Son’s sacrifice on our behalf. The devil who’s our accuser and prosecutor head was bruised (Genesis 3:15). This the bible says was done before the foundation of the world, (Ephesians 1:7). This is how our sins were dealt with judicially. This was pre-salvation. Once we believed in what Jesus did, we were saved. We’ll never be punished eternally for those sins and go to hell since the Father already punished Christ for them (Isaiah 53:1-5).

But, because of the wickedness that still remains in our flesh, we still commit sin in real time. Fortunately, we still have our advocate Jesus Christ who continually intercedes for us so that we can be continuously forgiven our sins when we repent and confess them (Hebrews 7:25; I John1:8-10; I John 2:2). When we ask for forgiveness post-salvation, it’s to restore fellowship, not relationship. Our relationship with the Father through Christ is forever when we believed. We’ll never lose our salvation.

Concluding, we must confess our sins because the word of God commands us to. To say we have no sin is to call God a liar which is blasphemous and proves the truth is not in us. Also, confessing sin is humbling; it reminds us that we still need the Savior and our sufficiency is in him although we’re born again. There is an ongoing tug-o-war between the flesh and the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). We must never forget the power that saved us, is the ongoing power that sustains us in salvation.

Once our physical bodies are made perfect and we’re in the eternal state, we’ll sin no more (I Corinthians 15:51; Philippians 3:21; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; I John 3:1-3). This is yet future.

This is a promise that what the Lord started, he’ll complete. (Ephesians 1:14; Philippians 1:6).

What is the "the Crawl Out" theory

My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one  - John 10:27-30

There are many in Christendom that believe that eternal salvation can be lost due to a pattern of unbroken, habitual sin in one’s life. It should raise the question if that person is actually saved in the first place; My answer is no.

This type of thinking smashes against one’s liberty and confidence in God and his word. It also causes anxiety and promotes a joyless experience in Christ.  This type of theology also promotes a spirit of fear which does not come from God (II Timothy 1:7). One can never be sure if at some point God will pull the plug on their salvation and revoke it – nonsense!!

It’s an entirely different matter and heresy to believe that one can “give up” their salvation or “crawl out” (that exact phrase was uttered to the writer last year by someone who holds this view) of the hands of the Father and Son. This type of thinking has huge reverberating effects I believe on the hearts and minds of even the elect of God.

What the writer calls the “crawl out” theory is a view that true believers can somehow “pry” themselves out of the eternal grip of the  Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ and thus rendering their salvation null and void. It’s another way of saying  salvation can be lost or what they believe ”given up”. The mentality behind this view is that since man has free will and God will not violate that will, he can choose to walk away from the salvation he once had. Question, if you can walk away from true salvation, did you ever have it in the first place? The answer is an emphatic NO! The following verse describes that type of person:

“They(the false convert) went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us  (I John 2:19).

The bible also describes this type of person as a tare among wheat, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a false prophet (Matthew 7:15; Matthew 13:24-30).

The problem that persists with this belief system is that man believes he is somehow in control of the salvation process; he can pick up his salvation, and lay it down at will. Now these aren’t the exact words the proponents of this false doctrine will utter out of their mouths, but as we say in today’s society, “actions speak louder than words." Their doctrine will dictate their behavior. The idea that you can give up your salvation is asinine for several reasons. I’ll cite a few:

Salvation is God’s design – God didn’t create salvation for it to be wrangled and twisted by man’s sinfulness. Had He left it in the hands of men, he (man) would have definitely destroyed it resulting in no one ever being saved. Salvation is of the Lord (Psalm 3:8; Isaiah 12:2; Jonah 2:9;Zechariah 9:9).      

Salvation was in the pre-determined mind of God before time began – In eternity past, the Father identified to the Son who He would save. He wrote their names down in the Lamb’s book of life  and gave them to the Son as a love gift to go and redeem. Since the Son loves the Father, any gift the Father gives him takes on infinite value; that is the elect. The rejection of this love gift that originated in heaven proves that salvation is only for those who truly believe. The chosen of God will ultimately remain faithful and true. The true believer who knows his God will never walk away because they’re preserved by God through the power of the Holy Spirit. This plan was authorized by God, executed by Jesus Christ on the cross, and is being carried out right now by us, being superintended by the Spirit. Man can’t  thwart it. God has already stamped his approval on it. (Ephesians 1:4; II Timothy 1:12;Titus 1:2).

Walking away from God proves one was never saved – Jesus said, “no one putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). This proves that the one who claims he was genuinely saved and “crawled out” of the Father and Son’s grip because he decided he no longer wanted to walk with the Lord was never a true disciple. He only pretended to be. He was never in the Father and Son’s grip. It’s tragic for so many people to subscribe to this view because of a poor understanding of salvation and the nature of the atonement. The Lord never provided an “Opt out” clause in his salvation plan. Those whom he truly saves, he saves them from within, and they’re saved forever. That eternal security is never a license to sin because through Christ we’ve been delivered from it’s curse, but a license to serve God and have it truly count (Romans 6:1-2). We prove our love to Jesus by obedience to his commands (John 14:15). Those that belong to the Lord are to depart from iniquity (II Timothy 2:19). Those chosen by God for salvation will come to him because the Lord has decreed it. When the Father draws them to the Son, the desire to repent will be the overwhelming passion of the chosen sinner’s heart. Scholars have called this Irresistible Grace. He’ll acknowledge his sin and unworthiness upon hearing the true gospel. He’ll be like the tax collector who humbled himself before God who beat his breast and declared, “God be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13, italics added).  All those appointed to eternal life will believe once they hear the gospel (Acts 13:48).

A lot of Christians have been victims of a poor theology – Because a lot of ministers in pulpits do not understand the nature of predestination, the atonement and salvation, they teach falsehood to the sheep. Since the average Christian is lazy when it comes to studying to show themselves approved and searching the scriptures daily whether these things are so (II Timothy 2:15; Acts 17:11), they become victims of heretical teaching and so what they believe to be true is how they live their lives. Their belief system unwittingly becomes what they believe about  the bible says and so they propagate that falsehood to other people. To them it seems natural and acceptable to say that God actually saves man, but through an unbroken pattern of sinful behavior, God abandons those whom he placed his particular love upon and he changes his mind and damns them to hell after all; i.e. lose their salvation. Did anyone ever take the time to think how that makes God look? It  makes God look double minded! What someone is saying is that He’s able to save, but he isn’t powerful enough to keep them saved because the person decided the Christian life wasn’t for them so they walk away, or they “crawled out!" This shows a gross lack of faith in the word of God. I must reiterate, those that walk away from the Lord were never saved if they stay away (i.e. Judas; John 6:71,  the fake disciples of John 6:66, Possibly Demas; II Timothy 4:10).  They need to get saved – for real! Examine yourself to see if you’re truly saved (II Corinthians 13:5)! Those whom God saves have the Holy Ghost residing in them and can not  practice sin (I John 3:9) . They remain true because He keeps them and knows who are his (II Timothy 2:19). This speaks of relationship.

Unrealistic expectations about the Christian life – Due to the popularity of the “Health and Wealth” Gospel and it’s user friendly appeal, the masses have followed this in droves. This false doctrine teaches that God wants all of his children healthy, healed and rich; assuming that a person’s life is in what he has which Jesus vehemently denied (Luke 12:15).  Who wouldn’t flock to a friendly offer like that, especially if it’s supposedly cloaked with Jesus  right? Their gospel offends no one because it doesn’t confront sin and the need for man to repent. It’s weak on sound doctrine and holy living. It’s non confrontational. The Word of Faith movement promotes a “name and claim it” theology which declares that if you positive confess something enough times, it’ll come to pass. You in essence get to create your own reality. Their scriptural premise for this Mark 11:23-24. This is nothing more than New Age mysticism, and what is commonly today “The Secret” or the “Law of Attraction” Go to this link for an article on The Secret:

https://www.gotquestions.org/secret-law-attraction.html                                                          

Once one discovers the Health and Wealth gospel is false and it doesn’t work as they hoped, they’ll stop following the false Jesus in that movement they’ll do two things:

1. They’ll blame God because they were lied to and want to have nothing to do with the true Jesus and the Church when the real gospel is presented. They’ll blaspheme God and the Church. They will find something more suitable to them 
2. They’ll investigate the word of God and discover that the actual Christian life involves self-denial and a life of service to the Lord with persecution which is unpopular. This truth will offend the majority so they’ll deny the truth. The few that are serious about becoming right with God will be drawn by the Father to the Son and will be saved through the preaching of the gospel.

                                                   

                                                           

                                                               In conclusion

The Lord never abandons us when we sin. We break fellowship with God due to sin, but not relationship. The joy of our salvation is temporarily removed when we sin; at least it should be. We should be broken hearted over it (Psalm 51:12). We must go to God and confess our sin so that we can be forgiven and cleansed (I John 1:9). God chastises us when we’re out of line because he loves us and commands us to be holy (Hebrews 12:5-11). God chastens us just as a natural father would chasten his child when they disobey. The father is displeased, but a good father would never disown his own child; nor will God forsake us. He loves us and sent his only begotten Son to die in our place for our sins.

In addition, to be able to “crawl out” of the hand of the Father and the Son means that everything that the Father decreed before time again would be reversed. We would no longer be chosen before the foundation of the world, we could become un-sealed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus came to die for us in vain because we’re now going to pay for the penalty for own sins in hell. We’re no longer the predestined, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified (Romans 8:30).  Do you now see the tragedy of this position? What this means is that God’s plan failed – sins “power” was greater than God’s gracious power to keep us saved. Jesus in essence loses all those the Father gave to him (John 6:37-41; John 10:27-30) if we have the power to walk away from such particular, and aggressive  love that God pre-determine the chosen would receive. This is ridiculous! Those who understand who they are in Christ and what he has done for them will never walk away anyhow. It defies all logic. If God has decreed the elect remain with him, they will remain and never perish. Those that walk away never belonged to him to begin with, will not see life, for the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36).

         

The Divine Choice Of God

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain”                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                           – John 15:16.

There is a very clear line between how God and man make choices.  Man makes common choices everyday of his life; such as what to eat, what to wear, where to live, where to attend school, who to marry, what career path to choose, his belief system, what car to drive, how to raise their children, etc. These are normal choices that God obviously knows about, but he does not pre-determine them; these choices aren’t critical to his eternal plan, and were not made for man before the foundation of the world. These human choices are always made in real time. God allows us to make these choices whether they’re good or evil, unabated. Sure other people can influence us in one way or another, but ultimately, the decision to choose what we do is ours. And if we’re honest, the majority of mankind makes these choices without consulting the Lord first would you not agree? Man wants to be his own sovereign and does not want to be told what to do, not even by God Almighty. In short, man does not care what God thinks. That’s why he commits evil wicked choices everyday.

When it comes to God  choosing whom he wants for whatever reason, it never requires man’s cooperation or approval to actualize His plan. When God makes a decree, it’s done outside of time, because He is outside of time, and at the precise moment in time He wants to effectively make His plan come to pass in the life or lives of those He chooses, it will come to pass, it will not tarry. This truth encompasses the whole of scripture. Let’s look at several texts to amplify this point:

God chose Noah – Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). By faith Noah being divinely warned of things not seen, moved with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith (Hebrews 11:7).

God chose Abraham – And he (Abraham) believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Righteousness was deposited in Abraham’s account by God because he believed in the promises of God. God didn’t need Abraham’s approval to choose him. God pre-determined Abraham’s fate.

God commissioned Moses to deliver the Hebrews from Egypt – Moses like us made excuses as to why he could not do what God commanded, but since it was in the pre-determined plan of God to choose Moses, it was going to come to pass as God prescribed it would (Exodus 3:14; Exodus 4).

God chose David to be King of Israel – Samuel the judge was sent to Bethlehem to anoint David with oil to be the next king of Israel (I Samuel 16:13). This was a choice God made alone to set his particular love upon David. Neither David’s good looks or pedigree influenced the Lord’s decision.

God chose Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations before he was born – Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I sanctified you, and ordained you a prophet to the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). Although Jeremiah was a chosen vessel, he wanted to resign his office as prophet because to him the word of the Lord was too hard to declare; it brought extreme pain and ridicule. Our humanness and sin will always be an obstacle when we’re endeavoring to do God’s will (Jeremiah 20:7-9; Romans 7:15-25).

God chose the nation Israel out of all the nations of the earth – For you are a holy people (not because of them, but because of God) to the Lord your God. God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the people of the earth. The Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you (I John 4:19), and because He would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers (a covenant promise with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of Pharaoh king of Egypt (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).

The Lord sovereignly chose Cyrus king of Persia to authorize the Hebrews to return to Israel – Thus says the Lord to his anointed, To Cyrus whose right hand I have held – to subdue nations before him, and loose the armor of kings; to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut. I will go before you, and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces the gates of bronze, and the cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord who call you by name Am the God of Israel for Jacob, My servant’s sake, and Israel My elect (emphasis added). I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me (Isaiah 45:1-4).

Here God chose king Cyrus, a gentile king. At the time of this prophecy, it was nearly 150 years before king Cyrus was even born. Cyrus in 538 B.C. was stirred by the Spirit of the Lord to proclaim through out his kingdom that God commanded him to build the Lord’s house in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-4).

This was all by the foreknowledge and pre-determined plan of God. Cyrus for this purpose was God’s instrument and his elect. God chose Cyrus before he was born. God didn’t wait for Cyrus to say yes to authorize his plan; God authorized it in eternity past himself, and actualized it in real time through his servant.

Jesus commissions Peter, Andrew, James and John – And Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fisherman. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Jesus also called James and John to follow Him. They left their nets and their father, and followed Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22).

Jesus commanded these men to follow and they obeyed. God didn’t provide an ultimatum. Their names were written in the Lamb’s book of life so therefore they were from eternity past chosen by God the Father as a gift to the son (Luke 10:20).

Saul (name changed later to Paul) was chosen by God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles – The Lord speaking to Ananias said, “Go for he (Saul) is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles, kings and children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15).

Although Paul was persecuting and imprisoning Christians, God called him to be a preacher to the Gentiles. This proves that even the chosen can resist God’s will until such time God effectually calls the chosen sinner to repentance. This of course was unbeknownst to Paul at the time. He was a chosen vessel by God in eternity past, and God effectually called him at the precise time He desired Paul to repent and be baptized. God chose Paul, not the other way around.

II Corinthians 1:1 says that Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (italics added).

I Timothy 1:1 says Paul and apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior (italics added).

The apostle Peter declares us a chosen generation – In 1 Peter 2:4 says we’re chosen by God. In verse 9 it says we’re a chosen generation and a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, His own chosen people (italics added).

The point I’m hoping to drive home is that when God chooses man, it benefits him, but it’s not because of him; it’s because of God who does everything according to His own good pleasure and intention (Ephesians 1:5,9).

God’s choice is an elective divine prerogative that glorifies himself. God will not share his glory with another (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11). God’s divine choice is something he always does, alone. None of the people God chooses for salvation think for one minute that their freedom of choice is being violated. Why? Because they know they have been saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9). God’s choosing is never apart from our will. Our will has to be altered by God at the moment of his effectually calling  us to himself or else we would never believe God’s word. This process never precludes human responsibility either. Somehow, God’s sovereign will and human responsibility are the two dynamics that mysteriously operate in God’s effectual call. God is always is the aggressor and provider in this process because it’s God’s plan and his doing. Man is passive in salvation and is the blessed recipient in this plan (i.e. the elect); he can not add to it by his obedience, and he can not subtract from it by his disobedience. This plan is fixed and complete in the mind of God (Romans 8:29,30; Ephesians 1:4;Titus 1:2). God’s sovereign elective choice is totally independent of man’s influence; man however is the object of the Father’s affection in His sovereign choice.

Isaiah 55:11 says, “So shall My word be that goes out of my mouth; It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it “ (Emphasis added). God’s words always prevails, it never fails.

 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:7-9).

 So you see, the pendulum swings both ways; man chooses what he wants to do not fearing reprisal from God. How much more does the sovereign of the universe have the right to choose what He wants to do in the realm of his own creation? God is never accountable to man, nor will he ever be. In predestination, and divine choice, God’s perfect will trumps man’s will every time. In human choice, man can choose what he wants( precluding salvation on his own), but it doesn’t mean he can always accomplish what he wants if God or man prevents him.

God always does what he wants (Psalm 115:3).

Finally, I heard someone say, God doesn’t see a thing as just and does it, God does it and then the thing becomes just because He is just.