If We Confess Our Sins

Q: What does the Bible say about confessing our sins?

The Bible teaches that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9). The Bible, specifically in 1 John 1:9, emphasizes the importance of confessing our sins. It assures us that upon confession, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This verse underscores God's nature as gracious and forgiving, indicating that no matter how great our sins may be, His willingness to forgive is greater. Confession is crucial because it allows us to recognize our faults and seek redemption through Christ, reinforcing the necessity of a sincere heart in our relationship with God.

Q: How do we know that God forgives our sins?

We know that God forgives our sins because His Word assures us of His faithfulness and justice (1 John 1:9). Assurance of God's forgiveness of our sins is rooted in His character and the promises found in Scripture. In 1 John 1:9, we are told that God is faithful to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness when we confess our sins. This reveals that God's forgiveness is not based on our merit but on His faithfulness to His promises. Furthermore, this truth reflects the gospel's core message, highlighting that Christ's sacrifice paid the price for our sins, enabling a just outcome in God's forgiveness towards us. Therefore, our certainty comes not from our feelings or actions, but from the trustworthiness of God's Word.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to confess their sins?

Confessing our sins is important for Christians as it restores fellowship with God and acknowledges our dependence on His grace. For Christians, confessing their sins holds significant importance as it serves to restore fellowship with God, which can be affected by sin. As indicated in 1 John 1:6-7, if we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and that includes our relationship with God. Confession indicates humility and an acknowledgment of our need for His grace, illustrating a heart that desires to be cleansed and to live in accordance with His will. Moreover, it leads us to recognize the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice, allowing the believer to experience the joy and fullness of life promised through fellowship with God. Through confession, we demonstrate our trust in His faithfulness to forgive and cleanse us, affirming our reliance on His sovereign grace.

1 John chapter 1, verse 1 through
10. And while you're finding that
scripture, let me announce my subject tonight. If you would
like to read the twelfth chapter of Ecclesiastes, I'm going to
speak tonight from Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Ecclesiastes 12. All right, let's
read 1 John, chapter 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 of the word
of life. For the life was manifested,
and we've seen and bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. That
which we've seen and heard declare we unto 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
rightly unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the
message which we've heard of him, from him, of him, and declare
unto you, that God is light, holiness, justice, truth. In
him is no darkness at all. Now if we say that we have fellowship
with God, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
But if we walk in the light of Christ, of his word, of his truth,
of faith, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with
him, that is, with Christ, with the Father. And the blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us, purifies us, purges 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 He is 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. Now the author of this epistle,
the very short epistle of five chapters, is John. John was the
youngest apostle. John was the survivor of all
the apostles. They were all martyred, all killed,
except John, and he survived them all. He was exiled to the
Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Revelation. called the revelation
of John, but it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And he's called
the beloved disciple. He's called the disciple whom
Jesus loved. He was very special to the Lord. Let me read this to you. You
don't need to turn to it. John 21, it says here in verse
7, Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved spake unto Peter,
it's the Lord. And then in John 21, verse 20,
it says, Then Peter turning about, and seeing the disciple whom
Jesus loved following, which leaned on his breast at the table,
said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? So this author
of this epistle is that beloved disciple, John. And it's called,
you see here at the beginning, it says, the first epistle general
of John. It's called a general epistle
because this epistle, like 1 Peter, is not directed to any particular
church or person or group, but to all believers. It's a general
epistle. Now, it's written, I can show
you this, This first epistle of John is written for several
reasons. Number one, to promote brotherly
love. Now, I would ask you to turn
with me to 1 John 4, verse 7. And you who are familiar with
this epistle, this will spring forth to you very quickly. Much of this epistle is committed
to this subject, brotherly love. In 1 John 4, 7, Beloved, let
us love one another. For love is of God, and every
one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. And he that
loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And it goes on with
that. You're familiar with that. If
we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected
in us. Hereby shall all men know ye
are my disciples, if ye love one another." This epistle is
given to promote brotherly love. And then secondly, look at 1
John 2.15. This epistle is written to oppose
worldliness among believers. It has a lot to say about separation,
commitment to Christ. It says here in 1 John 2.15,
Love not the world. Don't set your affection on the
things of this world. Set your affection on things
above. Love not this world, neither the things that are in this world.
Don't be given to pursuing things that only bring you heartaches.
Set your affection on things above. Seek the Lord, his kingdom. All these other things will be
added to you. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father
is not in him. Verse 16 says, For all that is
in the world, the lust of this flesh, the lust of these eyes,
the pride of life, that's not of God. That's of the world. And this epistle, it's written
to promote brotherly love, it's written to oppose and discourage
worldliness among believers. And then thirdly, look at 1 John
5. Here's another thing that this John deals with in this
epistle, and that's the Holy Trinity. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. In 1 John 5, 7, listen. He doesn't seek to explain the
Trinity. That can't be done. He proclaims
the Trinity. In 1 John 5, 7, for there are
three. that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, Christ, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. And there are three that bear
witness in this era, the Spirit, the Water, Word, and the Blood,
and these three agree in one. Now, if we receive the witness
of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness
of God which he hath testified of his He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not
God hath made him a liar, because he believes not the record God
gave of his Son." The Trinity. Father, the Father who purposed,
the Son who purchased, the Holy Spirit who reveals. And then
look at verse 20 of 1 John 5. Verse 20. Then all the way through
this epistle, He presents the deity and humanity of Christ
our Lord. Christ Jesus, Son of God, Son
of Man. Christ Jesus, eternal deity,
and God manifest in the flesh. 1 John 5, 20. Listen. And we
know that the Son of God, and we just talked about Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, is come into this world. and hath given
us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and
were in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This
is the true God, and this is eternal life." You see that?
This is God. Show us the Father. He that hath
seen thee hath seen the Father. He presents in this epistle the
deity, and yet the humanity. The Son of God has actually come,
and this is the true God, and given us an understanding that
we may know God, and Jesus Christ to whom he is sent. And then
verse 13 of 1 John 5, this epistle is written to encourage an assurance
of faith. I know we all entertain doubts
and fears. To deny that would be not to
let tell the truth. I know we all have apprehensions
about our relationship with God, but listen to 1 John 5, verse
13. And the fault is ours, not his. The fault is our little faith.
It certainly has nothing to do with his great mercy. And I think
sometimes the fault is we don't read his word like we should.
You see, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
And this is what he said in 1 John 5, verse 13. These things have
I written to you that believe on the name of the Son of God.
Now that's me, and that's you. I believe on the name of the
Son of God. And John says, I've written these things to you for
this purpose. Listen. That you may know you
have eternal life. Now if I'm going to know I have
eternal life, I need to read the things that are written that
I may know I have eternal life. Doesn't that make sense? I'm not going to find any assurance
by looking into this old fickle heart. I'm not going to find
any assurance by listening to the tales of others. I'm not
going to find assurance by staring into the starry sky. I'm not
going to find assurance and confidence in Christ by recounting my old
experiences which stay old. I'm going to find assurance and
confidence in Christ by reading his word, his promises, His promises,
reading his promises. You know, if someone has willed
something to you, some close relative or beloved friend has
remembered you in their will and has willed something to you
and given you a copy of the will, when you begin to doubt that
it's yours, I just imagine you go get the will out and read
it. And there's his signature, there's his promise, there's
his signature, he's never lied to you yet. So our blessed Lord,
this is a New Testament, last will and testament, in which
he has willed to us many precious promises and precious treasures. Now you want confidence that
you're in the will? Read it. You want assurance that
what he has promised is yours? Read it. Your neighbor's not going to
give you assurance that he's left it to you. What's your neighbor
know about it? The trees aren't going to speak to you. These
things are written to you that believe on the name of the Son
of God that you may know. that you have eternal life, read
the last line, and that you may believe on the name of the Son
of God, that you might continue to believe, that you might not
have those doubts and those fears. That's right. That's right. You know, I sit
over here while Mike's leading the singing and wait to stand
up here and preach. And I prepared my message. I
worked on my message. I went over it again last night.
I went over it again this morning. I went over it again sitting
there. And yet you feel so empty? Don't you, you men that stood
here know what I'm talking about? You feel such great responsibility
and such insufficiency, what am I going to do? I'll tell you
what I did. I turned over here to the Book
of Psalms, and I read where he promised to bless the preaching
of his words. And I got up here and I read
the preaching. But only on one condition, that is, that he promised
to bless them. That's all I can do, you know.
And when these birds of doubt and fear and question go through
your mind and all, just get with the Word and read his promise. All right, let's go back up here
to 1 John 1 and see what John says to us here. This is the
apostle talking. I told you about him. And it
says in verse 1, that which was from the beginning That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, our hands have
handled the word of life. The disciple is saying here,
John is saying, we've actually seen the Lord. We disciples have
actually seen the Lord God. We saw him, he says this two
or three times, we heard him and our hands touched him. Now
I haven't seen, this is not me talking here, this is the apostle
John. These are the apostles who saw the Lord. They actually
touched him, their hands handled him, they heard him, they saw
him. You see, the scripture says he was in the world. He, who
made the world, was in the world. The word of God became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we actually, John said, beheld his glory. the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth." That's what it's
saying here. These are God's witnesses. We heard him, we saw
him, we touched him. All right, verse 2. For the life,
and Jesus Christ is the life. His word is life. Back yond in
the beginning, when darkness was upon the face of the deep,
he spoke and the world came into being. He spoke, and the trees
grew and lived, and the grass grew and lived, and the flowers
grew and lived, and the animals lived, and the birds lived, and
the fish that swam in the sea lived. And then he said, let
us make man, and he breathed into man the breath of life.
Man became a living soul, a creature. And this life, he said, verse
2, was manifested. This giver of life, this breath
of life, this one who is life, he was actually manifested in
human flesh. Turn with me to 1 Timothy 3,
and this is a mystery of godliness. It's not something that I can
explain. I told my Sunday school class this morning, I just know
that God became a man. I know that God Almighty, his
name is Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace, was actually, for a while, clothed
in human flesh and walked the earth. And John says that, and
in case he says you don't understand who I'm talking about, he said,
the life was made flesh and manifested. In him is life. 1 Timothy 1.16. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of Godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. If you ever have any questions
about who Jesus Christ is, there's the answer. God manifested in
the human flesh. If you ever have any doubt about
the person of Jesus Christ, there it is. God was manifest in the
flesh. Concerning him, the Father said,
Thy throne, O God, is forever. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. Now back to our text. The life
was manifested. And we've seen it, John said.
We've seen it. We've seen it. And we bear witness,
and we show to you that eternal life which was with the Father
and was manifested to us. This Jesus is God in human flesh. Is that clear? That's what the
apostles said. We saw him, we heard him, we
touched him. He actually became a man. Now
look at verse 3. Now, that which we've seen and
that which we've heard declare we unto you. This is not a fable. I'm preaching what John preached.
And John wasn't preaching a fable, he wasn't preaching a traditional
religion. But he said, we preach to you
what we've seen and heard. Now over here in the book of
Acts, no need to turn to it, but the apostles, these apostles,
John, Peter, James, the others, had been put in prison. And finally
they let them out. But they let him out with this
commandment, in verse 18, Acts 4. They said that you are not
to teach or to preach in the name of Jesus. Now, under those
conditions, we'll let you go free. But the apostles, Peter
and John, that's who it was, John, right here. Peter and John
replied and said to them, now whether it be right in the sight
of God to listen to you, More than to listen to God, you be
the judge. We cannot but speak the things which we've seen and
heard. And that's what he's saying right
here, verse 3. That which I've seen and that which I've heard. We don't preach a fable, we don't
preach a handed down traditional religion. These apostles said
we're preaching to you what we've actually seen and what we've
actually heard. We preach unto you Why? Listen,
what is our motive? Verse 3, that which we've seen
and heard declaring unto you, and here's our motive, that you
also may have a fellowship with us. Now, he doesn't mean by that
that he just wants them to be in a particular church, or organization,
or group, or following. He wants them to be in a fellowship
with the Lord. I fellowship, listen, here's
what it is I explained it to you, I fellowship with the Father,
and with his Son, Jesus Christ. Now, I go down to Mexico, and
I go to Australia, and other places and preach. And I find
people in these places who love Christ. I find those who are
businessmen, I find those who are laborers, I find those who
are very poor, who have dirt floors and sleep in hammocks.
But they love Christ, and they love his word, they love his
gospel, they believe his gospel. And they're my brothers and my
sisters. We have fellowship. We have fellowship
one with another. And yet the people in this land
who have religion with whom I have no fellowship, they're in denominations
with whom you have no fellowship. They're in some kind of doctrinal
position with whom you have no fellowship. But this fellowship
here is a fellowship of faith in Christ. The fellowship of
the gospel of God's free and redeeming grace. The fellowship
that says let God be God. Let God be God. Let Him be sovereign
in creation, in providence, in salvation, in all things. Let
Christ be the only Redeemer. Bow to Him. Love Him. Worship
Him. Proclaim His glory. And John
says, that's the reason I'm preaching. I tell you this, John says, we're
not seeking a name for ourselves. He wound up exiled on an island
where he died. These men, what they preached
cost them their lives. It cost them everything. They
had nothing to gain at all physically or materially from what they
were preaching, but this is what they hoped to gain, that which
we've seen and heard declaring unto you that you also may have
fellowship with us in this glorious fellowship with the Father and
with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I don't pay much attention to
church roles and church organizations, and I think the less organizations
you can have, the more you can worship. I think the less business
you transact. We haven't had a business meeting
here in 15, 20 years. The less of those kind of things,
voting and nominating and campaigning and all these things. We fellowship around a person.
We love a person. Our faith is in Christ. Our hope
is in Christ. And that's what John is saying
here. That's our motive. Want you to know him. Want you
to know his life. And whether you live here or
live in Timbuktu, or live in Eastern Kentucky somewhere, or
West Virginia, it doesn't matter if you believe on Christ. You
see what I'm saying? That's our motive. Come to know Christ. All right, look at verse 4. And
these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." Now,
my friends, there are temporary joys in this work. Man can't
deny that. There are temporary joys in this
work. There are pleasures, and there are enjoying things, but
I tell you, they're all fleeting. They're all temporary. It's not
like they all fade away. The fashion of this world fadeth
away. But our Lord, Jesus Christ, has
come to bring us a joy that does not fade away, that's not temporary,
that's full and complete in Him. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And John said, I'm writing these things to you,
that your fellowship, your family, might be in fellowship with him
and us, the believers. And in that fellowship and in
that Christ, there's a real joy. And when all this other is taken
away, your joy is full. All right, verse 5. Listen. And this, then, is the message.
This is the message. This, then, is the message. It's
the gospel. There is no other gospel. There's
no other gospel. There are counterfeit gospels,
there are perverted gospels, but there is no other gospel
but that God in Christ is the Redeemer. There is no other gospel.
I can't improve my relationship with God by raising my hand.
I can't improve my relationship with God by walking down an aisle
and making promises to a man. I can't improve my relationship
with God by joining a church and doing all the social activities
and religious activities they prescribe. But I tell you this,
my relationship with God not only is improved, but made perfect
by faith in Christ Jesus. By looking to Him, and believing
Him, and resting in Him, and trusting Him. That's right. And
this is the message. I've got the message. I got it
right here from John the Apostle. You know where he got it? He
got it from the Lord himself. Turn to Galatians chapter 1.
Listen to what these apostles said. Galatians chapter 1, verse
11 and 12. Listen to this. Galatians 1,
verse 11. Paul's writing here. John says
the same thing. Galatians 1, 11. But I certify
you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man. I didn't learn it in school.
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it
by man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. John said, What
I've seen, what I've heard, what my hands have handled, for the
life was manifested, I declare him to you. Believe on him. Look to him. Trust Him. Love Him. May your fellowship
be with Him. And this is the message. This
is the message. We heard it from Him. That's
where we got our message, from Him. We heard our message from
Him. Listen, and we declare it to
you. That's all we are, messenger boys, just to deliver His message.
This is the gospel we declare unto you. I preach the gospel unto you,
I declare the gospel unto you, which you receive, wherein you
stand, which you believe, by which you are saved, if you believe
that Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures,
and bear and rose again according to the scriptures. This is the
gospel. Listen. God's light. What's that talking
about? God's pure. God's holy. God's righteous. God's just in
all his judgments. In him there is no darkness at
all. In him there's no compromise.
He will be just and justifier only in Christ Jesus. Verse 6,
if we say we have fellowship with God and walk in darkness,
we lie and do not the truth. Now here's what he's saying here. God is holy and just and pure
and righteous. In him there is no darkness.
In him there's no compromise. In him there's no alloy. He's
pure holiness and pure righteousness and pure justice. He said, I
will by no means clear the guilty. Now here we are. We're not holy,
we're unholy. We're not pure, we're sin. We're
not light, we're darkness. Sons of Adam. Every imagination
in man's heart is evil, continually. There's no light in us by nature.
God is good, we're not good. God is truth, and we're liars.
Let every man be a liar, the scripture says. Now, if we say
that we have fellowship with him in this condition, we're
lying. And there's no truth in us. But I'll tell you, we can have
fellowship with him if he, in his holiness, comes down and
takes our place, and takes our sin, and takes our darkness,
and takes our iniquity, and takes our death, and pays it, and satisfies
God's holiness and justice and righteousness by becoming righteousness
unto us, and satisfies God's demands by paying the debt, then
when God Almighty accepts Christ, accepts us in And in that way we can have fellowship,
but now God is light, in him no darkness. And down here the
tenor of our lives and the bent of our wills and the direction
of our walk is in unbelief and in ignorance of the gospel and
in the flesh and in the world. And we say, yeah, we know God.
There's only one way to know God, and that's in Christ. We
say, yeah, we're God's children. Wait a minute, we're God's children
by faith in Christ. We say, when we die, God's going
to accept our good works and our righteousness. No, our righteousness
is in Christ. Not in ourselves. So if we say
it, a man has no right to say he has fellowship with God outside
of Jesus Christ. That's right. We lie, we do not
the truth, because God is light. This is the reason. It's not,
who do you think you are, a preacher? You say you have fellowship with
God? Well, I'm as good a man as you are. Possible, very possible. Well, I've been in religion as
long as you have. Very possible. But I'm not looking to my goodness
to give me fellowship with God or my religion. I'm looking to
Christ and his obedience and his death. See what I'm saying?
You can have fellowship with God, too. This is the message
which we've heard and declared to you, that you might have our
fellowships. Good night, that's what I'm saying.
What John's saying. John's not claiming that he has
fellowship based on anything of him or in him or what he's
done. He's tried to tell us that our
fellowship is with God and with his Son. Isn't that right? I don't know how to make it clear.
I mean, religious people are hard-headed, did you know that?
They're just, there it is, this is the message. We declare unto
you that God is light, God is holiness, God is truth. In him there's no darkness. Now
if we say we have fellowship with him, and we're down here
in an unregenerate religious or otherwise conditioned, claiming
fellowship with God. God too can't walk together except
they be agreed. And we're not in agreement with
God by nature. Christ is in agreement with God,
and in Christ I can walk with God. He said, I'm the vine, you're
the branches. Abide in me, and you have life. But, verse 7, if we walk in the
light, the light of what? The light of truth, the light
of the gospel, the light of righteousness, the light of holiness, the light
of the gospel. That's the light. The light of
Christ. He said, I'm the light of the
world. I'm the way, the truth, and the life. If we walk in the
light as Christ is in the light, then we are fellowship with one
another. In the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son cleansed us from all sin. That's very clear. This is the message. God is holy. In Him there's no darkness. He's
not going to compromise. He's not coming down. He's not
going to change. We've got to be changed. We've
got to come to Christ. In our fellowship with God, He
said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. Get
in Christ. This is my Son. Hear ye Him. Christ said, I'm
come that they might have life and have it more abundant. I've
come to seek and to save the lost. If we say we have fellowship
with God and this is our walk in darkness, no. But if we walk
in the light of Christ and the gospel, then we have fellowship
with him. And he cleanses us from all sin.
Now look at verse 8. Now if we say we have no sin,
notice that singular, S-I-N, we have no sin. We deceive ourselves,
and the truth's not in us. What is this, and why is it singular?
I tell you, if we say, listen to me, we have no nature of sin. We have no principle of sin.
We do not partake of that source of evil which Adam passed on
to all of his sons. We are deceived. Everybody here,
everybody in this county, everybody in this state and country and
in this world is born in sin. That's right. S-I-N. If we deny this principle
and deny this nature, we deceive ourselves and listen, and the
truth's not in us. Why is it easier to hate than
to love? Why is it easier? to watch a
comedy on TV than to listen to a sermon regarding divine things. Why is it easier to read a suggestive
book than to read the word of God? Why is it easier to get
upset than to go around rejoicing? Why is it easier to grumble than
to give thanks? I tell you why, because it's
our nature. It's in us. Why do your children,
you don't teach them to lie, but they lie. Who taught them
to lie? They're born liars. Do you teach your children to
be selfish? Do you teach them that? These little guys sit down,
they have ten bucks, and that little boy over there don't have
any. They're mine. Monsters. They don't share. Did you teach
them that? Well, how did they learn that?
Born that way. David said, in seeing my mama
conceived me, I shaped an iniquity. That's right. I said, you say
you don't have that nature, you're deceived. And there's something
got to be done about that old nature. We got to have a new
nature. If that's our only nature, And if that's our dominating
nature, and if that's our controlling nature, you know that God can't
let that into heaven. Barnard said if God let most
folks into heaven, they'd dig up the streets and sell the gold. I know some folks, religious
folks, that they can't get along with anybody. They cause a fuss
wherever they go. If God let them in heaven, they'd
have the angels fussing. It starts something. So God's
going to give us a new nature. And when he kills us in the flesh,
he'll bury that old nature. And we'll take that new nature
to glory, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Huh? I'm telling you the truth. If you say you don't have that
nature, you're deceived. Read on, verse 10. Let's look
at verse 10 first. If we say we have not sinned,
you wouldn't say that, would you? I mean this week. You haven't sinned this week?
Well, sure you have, many times. Let's make it short enough. What
about this day? What about the last five minutes? Have you sinned? You say, no, I didn't sin last
night. Do you love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength?
Well, no. Well, you've sinned. Do you love
the man or woman next to you or sitting behind you as much
as you love yourself? No. Well, you've sinned. That's right. To know to do good and do it
not sin. The thought of foolishness is sin. That's right. It's sin mixed with all we think
and do. And if we say we haven't sinned,
we make God a liar, because he said we've all sinned, and there's
none that doeth good in sin, if not. And his words are not in us.
I have no patience, time, or anything else for people who
claim to have no sin, and who have not sinned. God only died
for sinners. He delights to show mercy to
sinners. And I'm sure glad I'm a sinner. because he died for
sinners. That gives me the last verse.
Now, verse 9. That's what I want to deal with
here in closing. Two minutes. But, if we confess our sins, we confess our sins. Do you? David did. He said, My sins are
ever before me. Lord, forgive my sins. If we confess our sins, don't
hide them. He that coveteth his sins shall
not prosper. But whoso confesses his sins
and forsaketh them shall find mercy. Go on. Don't confess them to me. I don't
want anything to do with that. If we confess our sins to him,
watch it, he's faithful. He's faithful to his promise,
faithful to his word, faithful to his blood, faithful to his
son. He's just. How can God be just and forgive
me? He can't in yourself, but he
can in Christ. You haven't done anything, but
Christ did. He can be faithful, he can be just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us, watch it, from all unrighteousness
if we confess our sins. Now then, you had an answer this
morning. I'm not trying to make badness
out of you. I kind of wish that word wasn't out there. It don't
mean anything anymore. Brother Mayor's not trying to
get you to come down here. I can't help you. Brother Mayor's not
trying to get you in that pool, nor on the road book, or your
tie. Forget it. I don't need anything. I'm on Social Security. I'm welfare
now. I'm not trying to get you to
do nothing but one thing. And that's admit you're a sinner. And that you've sinned. And I
won't do the same thing. And look to Christ. And believe
on Him. And embrace Him. That's all. But that's where it all is. And
I said, that's all. That's all I need. That's all
you need. is to know Christ. We're just
passing through this place if we confess our sin. Listen, Lord,
here's my prayer. We confess our many faults, how
great our guilt has been, foolish and vain are all our thoughts
and all our lives of sin. So it's not by works of righteousness
which our own hands have done, but we're saved by your sovereign
grace abounding through your Son. It is from the mercies of
our God that all our hopes begin. It is by the shedding of his
blood that I'm cleansed from sin. Now that's a good message. That's a message of hope. That
takes it out of my hands or your hands and puts it in the hands
of God, who's faithful and just to forgive. Sometimes I find
it hard to forgive. He never does, because he's got
a good motive. His son died. that we might be
forgiven. All right, Desi's gonna sing
for us now.

If We Confess Our Sins

What does the Bible say about confessing our sins?

How do we know that God forgives our sins?

Why is it important for Christians to confess their sins?

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If We Confess Our Sins

What does the Bible say about confessing our sins?

How do we know that God forgives our sins?

Why is it important for Christians to confess their sins?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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