by David Brenneman
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous 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.” 1 John 1:9-10.
“Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken 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 sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalms 51:6-17.
We are a people who can and will deceive ourselves and others. That's part of the curse of the sin nature with which we have.
We read in this passage from the book of Psalms King David's response to Nathan's calling him out for murdering Uriah to take Bathsheba as his wife.
Oh that I might be as sensitive to sin as King David showed himself in this moment! That all of us might!
Sin dirtys us every day. While salvation in Christ Jesus is permanent and secure in the Spirit’s seal upon us...we have a daily need to confess our sins. Scripture says that He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But we need to acknowledge these transgressions.
We need to agree with God that these transgressions have occurred.
This is what truth looks like...agreeing with Jesus on His views concerning us.
When we stand before Jesus to give an account of our lives before Him...every scrap of truth regarding our lives will be revealed. There's going to be nothing hidden that won't be revealed is what the Spirit says in the Word of God.
We would do well to remember this. We would do well to not make asking for forgiveness of our sins something we casually do or something we sometimes remember to ask for as if it were an afterthought.
Truth says that we have yet a sin nature and daily we get tarnished by it and need cleansing.
Truth says we are in a Spiritual War and we need to fully acknowledge that.
Truth says that God has a plan and purpose for the lives of everyone who is saved in Christ Jesus to glorify God the Father.
Truth says that we are going to face temptation. What we do in response to it determines whether it turns to sin or not. There are sins and actions, thoughts, behaviors that are not sins.
Truth says that nothing escapes His notice.
Truth says that we are to renew our thoughts daily in the Word of God to transform our minds.
Truth says that there's a day set by the Father’s own authority where everyone will give an account of their lives before Jesus.
Truth is Jesus.
Truth is...we don't make "mistakes" we either are not sinning, are tempted to sin or have sinned. Jesus Christ didn't die on a cross for the mistakes of mankind. We must call a spade a spade. We either are engaged in righteousness or we're engaged in temptation or engaged in sin.
Truth says to put on the full armor of God. This isn't to be something we take off at the end of the day. The soldiers of the time the Bible was written about the whole armor of God stayed in their armor ready at all times.
Everyone is affected by the Spiritual forces around us. There's none who are off the radar in any Spiritual sense.
My Dear Reader how seriously are you taking your life in Christ?
Serious enough to ask Jesus to reveal anything in your life that He doesn't approve of and His help in removing it?
I know that I will likely be weeping when my life's account is revealed...and that's only with what I know of it...not what Jesus knows of it.
Are you dismissing, ignoring, blowing off, the seriousness of the life in Christ that He desires for you? Are you bold enough to ask Jesus to see if there be any hurtful, wicked, way in you that you're blind to?
He is Truth and we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works that we might walk in them.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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