Saturday, August 16, 2008

Why Denial of Sin Doesn't Work

Faith's Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon
Saturday August 16, 2008
Christians Unite.com

Uncover and Confess Sin

He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

Here is the way of mercy for a guilty and repenting sinner. He must cease from the habit of covering sin. This is attempted by falsehood, which denies sin; by hypocrisy, which conceals it; by boasting, which justifies it; and by loud profession, which tries to make amends for it.

The sinner's business is to confess and forsake. The two must go together. Confession must be honestly made to the Lord Himself, and it must include within itself acknowledgment of the wrong, sense of its evil, and abhorrence of it. We must not throw the fault upon others, nor blame circumstances, nor plead natural weakness. We must make a clean breast of it and plead guilty to the indictment. There can be no mercy till this is done.

Furthermore, we must forsake the evil; having owned our fault, we must disown all present and future intent to abide in it. We cannot remain in rebellion and yet dwell with the King's majesty. The habit of evil must be quitted, together with all places, companions, pursuits, and books which might lead us astray. Not for confession, nor for reformation, but in connection with them we find pardon by faith in the blood of Jesus.

HT: Christians Unite.com

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Christinewjc

I’m very passionate about this topic, because that is what my church organization, in so many words is accepting.
Those that worship and say amen to the pastor, but if you sat them down and asked them direct about their sin they would agree with you that they are in the sin of adultery. They feel like God has forgiven them, but without forsaking their sin there is no forgiveness. This is were I disagree with my church “Church of God of Prophecy.” They accept people as members then want the church to work with those to restore. I thought that salvation and sanctification brings the new birth, all things become new. If the adulterer is saved, then what is he saved from? If he/she continues to live in the adulterous lifestyle then what sin where they forgiven of?

Anonymous said...

Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no fruit on the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds' feet, And makes me walk on my high places.(Habakkuk 3:17-19)

gospeloflove said...

Cast off the sin that so easily entangles. Fix your eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of your faith!

"If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 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."

Sin is defeated in Christ Jesus and to confess is as simple as to have faith and abide in who Christ Jesus is. For faith brings about new life and how can someone who is abiding in new life be a slave of sin?

"I am writing these things 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 those of the whole world."
"The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever." "This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life." "Love covers a multitude of sins" God is love!

Great verses hey, I could have put all of 1 John down as it is such a great book... anyway I just wanted to say that we SHOULD confess our sins, cast them off, and look to Jesus, because sometimes we get too focused on saving ourselves and trying to confess, repent, and forsake sin that we forget to fix our atention on our Lord and rejoice in His mercy and grace. `For it is by grace we have been saved, through faith, and this not of ourselves, it is a gift of God. Eph 2:8`

I`d say more but this is your blog not mine. May God bless your Day!
May the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

Anonymous said...

2 Peter 2:1 ¶ But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2 Peter 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:

I have in my notes that 2 Peter 2:14 that Peter thought there were false teachers in his day.

"beguiling" (1185) means to entrape, delude, allure and entice.

I was down Atlantic City on the boardwalk and one of the loudspeakers to the Casinos said you could "repent later" so you could come in.

"Cannot cease" (180) unrefraining, that cannot cease

"heart" (2588), seat of the intellect, meaning the mind, understanding

"cursed" (2671), devoting to doom or utter destruction

"sporting" (1792), to revil in, sporting selves

(All definitions from Key Word Study Bible, AMG Publishers).

Is there a difference in between what I believe about Jesus and what the 2 Peter 2:14 "Christians" believe about Jesus? And is there a difference between Hebrews 11 Christians and what 2 Peter 2:14 "Christians" believe about Jesus?

Start your answer off with "by faith" for each example of Hebrews 11 Christians. What was their belief based on? "By faith..."

Is there a difference between those who believe in Luke 8:13 "for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away" and Luke 8:15 "having heard the word, keep [it], and bring forth fruit with patience."? Both are believing, but both "beliefs" are different, aren't they?

What was Moses' gospel?

Hebrews 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

I'm also studying aphesis (859) as to whether we have remission of sin. Are we removed from the power of sins and what would the disciples do?

John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; [and] whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained.

Who would they remit sins from?

Aren't these the same guys that made people confess their sins (Matthew 3:6) and who told people first to bring forth fruits meet for repentance (Matthew 3:8)?