FACT: So many Christians today have a weird concept of what it means to be, “Under Grace.” They have developed a FALSE concept where they believe that grace means NEVER having to DO or OBEY anything, but to show up, claim faith in Messiah, and cheer. Then they believe all they have to do after that is sit back and wait for the blessings bus to roll on into their lives. Many Christians FALSELY believe that if there is any act of obedience required on their part, in their internal dictionary, that would mean that, this would not be Grace anymore, since our works have to get involved in the process. As we will soon see, while this is a popular definition of Grace, it cannot possibly be the biblical definition of what Grace means.
Questions to Ask:
Q: Christian, do you believe that part of the Grace of God INCLUDES forgiveness for our sins?
Q: Even if you just accept the so called New Testament, (mistaken as that is), even according to the so-called New Testament, is the promise of forgiveness for sins; is it a CONDITIONAL promise, or is it an UNCONDITIONAL promise, according to Scripture? That’s important. (Matthew 6:14; 1 John 1:5-10).
The Bible Says: As It Is Written:
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14–15, NKJV)
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses 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 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.” (1 John 1:5–10, NKJV)
Key Observations:
Yes, it is important sometimes to know some key words of Scripture, in the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek definitions, but honestly, sometimes, if we simply begin by making a careful effort to pay deliberate attention, and NOT IGNORE what we are reading, many of us would still be farther ahead from where we are now.
A: For example, we know by just plain attentively reading of Ephesians 1:7, that yes, part of Yahweh’s Grace, DOES in fact INCLUDE forgiveness for our sins.
Q: The next critical question; is the portion of Yahweh’s Grace which provides forgiveness for sins; is it a CONDITIONAL promise, or is it an UNCONDITIONAL promise?
A: By definition, an unconditional promise would be a promise that the Creator made to us which does NOT REQUIRE US to specifically DO anything, because there is no condition attached to receiving the promise. For example, in Genesis 9:11, the Creator gave an UNCONDITIONAL promise never to flood the earth and destroy absolutely everyone. God gave no requirement for us to fulfill in order to receive that particular promise. That’s unconditional.
A: As we can clearly see from reading the passages above, the situation is clearly DIFFERENT when it comes to the issue of forgiveness of our sins. From the plain reading of Scripture we can clearly see that the Creator’s Grace which provides us with forgiveness for our sins; it is CLEARLY a conditional promise. That means that Yahweh has attached specific conditions to a promise, which believers MUST MEET, in order to receive the blessings and the benefits of a conditional promise. Whenever we see a biblical promise, and we see the words, “If you,”… Or, “If we,” that means that in order to receive the promise, the believer wishing to enjoy that blessing, MUST MEET the conditions attached to the promise.
Fact: The vast majority of the promises you will find in Scripture are CONDITIONAL in nature. Most are NOT UNCONDITIONAL. That means that in most cases, if we want to receive the blessings of the promises in Scripture, we MUST be willing and obedient to learn what the conditions are, and then we MUST be willing, and we must choose to MEET those conditions which God has attached to those promises.
For most of Yahweh’s promises, IF you are NOT willing to learn and to meet the conditions that He has attached to His promises, then you have no righteous or legal authority to CLAIM the blessings of a promise whose conditions you have refused to meet, whether or not you claim to be, “Under His Grace.” If you are not experiencing the blessings from a promise in Scripture which you would like to have, the odds are that it is because you have either ignored or neglected the prerequisite condition YHWH has attached to the promise. That is a simple concept but it often gets forgotten.
So what conditions does God’s word tell us we must meet in order to receive the grace of God which will provide us forgiveness for our sins?
A: From the Scriptures we read at the beginning of our study, we know that at a MINIMUM, there are at least two (2) conditions, which we MUST MEET, in order to receive the part of Yahweh’s grace which forgives our sins.
- We MUST CHOOSE to, and we must FORGIVE others who have sinned against us (Matthew 6:14-15).
- We MUST CONFESS our sins (1 John 1:9).
How Can I Learn to Forgive?
Please believe me, I KNOW that making the choice and progressively, learning to forgive is NOT easy. Sometimes it is agonizing; because of the pain and sorrow we have suffered at the hands of others. I myself spent 16 years of my childhood being seriously abused by multiple parents and caregivers in ways that I will not describe here. Suffice it to say that I KNOW that forgiving is not easy.
It starts with making clear choices. You must count the cost. Is holding onto your pain, your sorrows, your frustrations and your anger, (justifiable though some of that may seem), is holding on to those things worth forfeiting the forgiveness and friendship that you would receive with Yahweh and Messiah, if you just chose to relinquish and not hold onto those things? It started with making a verbal choice every time the pains rose up:
“Abba Almighty I CHOOSE as a choice of my will to forgive, ______________, for _____________. You know the damage they caused, and I will not deny that I’m hurting. I need Your help to overcome the damage that they did in my life. Whether I feel it or not at this moment, I CHOOSE to forgive them. I ask You to please forgive them. Do not count their sins against them. Help them to repent so that You can rightly bless them. Please put in me, Your kind of forgiveness toward them. By Your grace, please help my heart and emotions to progressively catch up, and to come into line with this choice of my will to forgive them. Bless them to whatever degree You can rightly do so, and help them to know that it is You who provided that blessing, so that they might come to know You. By Your grace perfect this forgiveness, where I am coming short of perfection in my weakness. Amen.”
That’s a beginning. God helps me to persevere, and to do that kind of thing every time a pain comes up because of what they did. It took years, and in some areas I’m still progressing through healing the damage they caused, but by Yahweh’s grace I am able to be cordial and kind to my mom, and I pray for both my biological and adoptive mothers; that Yahweh will bless them. But it all started with the understanding that I NEED God’s forgiveness, MORE than I needed to be angry at both of them. I believe my experience has earned me some rights to speak on this issue.
My advice to any Christian who is struggling with the issue of forgiveness is to MAKE the decision of your will first. Simply choose to forgive BEFORE you feel it. If you wait until you feel good about forgiving them, you’ll never do it. There will always be seemingly rational reasons to hold a grudge. Don’t wait till you feel it before you forgive. Make a choice to forgive, and let God help you through your feelings as you press forward. I hope that helps you, beloved.
We MUST CONFESS our Sins
The second condition to receiving the portion of Yahweh’s grace which provides us forgiveness of our sins is that we MUST CONFESS our sins, (1 John 1:9). Since receiving Yahweh’s forgiveness for our sins is conditioned upon our confessing our sins, then understanding what Yahweh means when HE uses the word CONFESS in Scripture, becomes CRUCIAL, so that I can meet His conditions and receive the forgiveness that He promises.
So what does God mean when HE uses the term confess in 1 John 1:9? That’s when learning some key words in original biblical languages can be critical, so that we can know that we are meeting the conditions God has set. So what does the word CONFESS mean biblically?
A: According to the Biblical languages, the word used for confess is "homologeô"-(Greek Strong’s #3670), which most precisely means to be in accord or agreement; to be of ONE MIND, and to SPEAK the SAME thing.
So in order to confess my sins biblically, I must be in AGREEMENT with Yahweh concerning what I did and I must SPEAK THE SAME THING that Yahweh says concerning what I did, because that’s what it means to confess. If I do not do that, then I did not confess according to God.
Q: So if I THINK that what I am doing is called, “Yahweh’s Grace,” but God SAYS, that what I’m doing is what it means to SIN, then am I truly in accord with Him - No Way!
Q: If I CLAIM that what I am doing is a matter of Grace, but He SAID that what I’m doing fits the definition of what it means to SIN, then am I truly, “Of ONE MIND with HIM at that point? - NO WAY!
Q: If I CLAIM that what I am doing is a matter of Grace, but He SAID that what I’m doing fits the definition of what it means to SIN, then am I truly, “SPEAKING AS HE SPEAKS, at that point? - NO WAY! Under those circumstances, am I truly CONFESSING my sins? NO WAY!
Q: Since I am not truly CONFESSING my sins as Yahweh’s Word defines that term, then am I forgiven?- NOT A CHANCE!
Fact: That is WHY we must NOT take concepts which the Almighty has already defined to be SIN, we must not take the same concepts and claim that they define what it means to be under grace, because what God has already called sin, cannot truly be Grace. We must NOT take concepts which the Messiah SAYS they will be condemned to the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth, and we must not claim that those same concepts are what it means to be walking in Yahweh’s Grace. Because what Messiah says will be CONDEMNED on the Last Day, that same concept CANNOT possibly be Grace. In that case, we would NOT be CONFESSING our sin. That would be DENYING sin. That’s beyond dangerous.
See the Note:
How Can What God and Christ Has Called Sin and Lawlessness also Be Grace?
In order to confess our sins and so be forgiven for our sins, we must be in agreement with Yahweh that what we did was in fact sin, and we must speak as He speaks. We must not take what He has called sin, and claim that it is grace. NOWHERE in Scripture is there ANY promise to forgive the sins of those who DENY their sin. So if we truly want to be forgiven, then we have no choice but to learn what Yahweh’s definitions are, agree with Him, and speak accordingly. Because that’s what it means to CONFESS.
Choosing to Meet His Conditions
If you REFUSE to progressively learn to RIGHTLY DO these two things, then please do not believe that your sins are forgiven, because in that case, you would be DECEIVING yourself. That is not me being judgmental. That’s me BEING BIBLICAL.
Please make sure that you are truly confessing your sins as Yahweh has defined the term, so that you will be forgiven, according to His promise.
Brother R Michel Lankford
No comments:
Post a Comment