Deliverance in Personal Discipline
Life is crashing in around you, God seems distant, wisdom cannot be found and comfort left without a word. Has a person departed from Biblical Doctrine and our loving Father is disciplining them so that they will confess their sin and return to fellowship with Him or are our circumstances designed to test our faith and increase our reliance upon Him? What does God teach us in His Holy Word?
You first need to answer the question, is this suffering or discipline? If upon close examination of your circumstances, your attitude and your view of who God is, you come to the conclusion this is suffering then turn your heart and mind to prayer and seeking what the Lord Jesus Christ is trying to accomplish in your life through this time. It may be building your faith for a future work He has laid out or to prepare you for a trial which you are not yet ready for or He could be doing this to open an opportunity for ministry to others, the writer of Hebrews makes this point in chapter 12 starting at verse 6. This could also be persecution for the stand you have already taken and this trial is further proof of your position in Christ as the Apostle Peter speaks about. The point is that the Lord God Almighty has brought this time into your life for His glory and your benefit. Take courage in Christ Jesus in this time.
But …
What if you realize now that what is happening is the result of sin? There is good news for you, confess your sin and God will forgive you! In the book of 1 John 1:9 it states clearly “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” John is writing to believers, brothers who he wants to see live a life full of God’s joy (verse 4). Notice John puts himself in the category of sinning by stating "if we confess our sins," He knows he still needs forgiveness for individual sins (overtaken by a fault as Paul states in Galatians 6:1) even though Christ paid the complete price for this at the cross. This is a promise right from God Himself, if you confess He WILL forgive. So confess and be forgiven and enter back into His joy.
Notice the surrounding verses, these are about determining if the truth is in us. If you think that Believers do not sin after salvation the Apostle John and the Holy Spirit say you are wrong. We sin and therefore we need to confess our sin. There is nothing here about believing in Jesus Christ. Salvation and confession of sin are separate and distinct issues. Remember the Phillipian Jailer in Acts 16:30, he asked “What must I do to be saved?” The answer was simple “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” No mention of repentance, no call to be baptized or to attend church. Just believe that Jesus is who He said He is. Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) and does not require repentance or confession of sins which are works. Are we commanded to repent? Yes.
Repentance is the act of recognizing our thoughts, attitudes and actions are wrong in God’s eyes and we are ready to change them to be more like Him. It can be in connection with salvation as in changing your mind about who Christ Jesus is and now believe the good news. We see this in Mark 1:15 where Jesus tells the people to repent (change their beliefs) and believe the gospel. But often repentance is spoken to those who already are believers in Jesus the Son of God as in Simon, who was a sorcerer, in Acts 8:22 and desired the gift of healing but was rebuked for thinking it could be bought or in 2 Corinthians 7:8 where Paul was not sorry for causing sorrow to them. The point is to consider each passage where repentance is talked about and determine if it is speaking to unbelievers to change their mind about Christ and receive salvation or to believers who need to change their mind about doctrine or their actions and change their ways.
Look to the book of James in Chapter 3 and verse 2 to see that God knows we will offend Him and stumble in our walk. “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he [is] a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.” (NKJV) It is clear God knows our nature and does not expect perfection from us, we will stumble, get tripped up by our own thoughts or by this world. The issue is one of offending God by making poor choices. I want you to be encouraged that your sin does not remove your salvation, your sin only means you are human and need restoration to fellowship like 1 John 1:9 says. This is deliverance.
The only barrier to the Christian taking part in the deliverance God has laid out for them is to think they don't sin and therefore don't need to repent or to think their sin is too offensive. If God can forgive Paul for persecuting the Church so violently and consenting to the murder of Stephen and then use Paul to write so much of the New Testament, surely He will forgive you.
I am a person just like you; I was separated from God by my own sin until I considered Christ Jesus and accepted the gift of salvation. I am still human and am drawn away by my own desires and still sin and need to confess to receive His forgiveness. So don't just trust or discount me, go and look it up for yourself. The Bereans in Acts 17:11 were called more honorable for checking scripture to see if what the Apostle Paul was teaching them was correct.
A Side Note: Look to this related article on why Armenianism and Calvinism are both right and wrong at the same time. They each take an exclusive viewpoint and miss the unity and beauty of God and His scripture. Please don't confuse salvation issues with problems related to living a Godly life.
Updated: January 29, 2012
You first need to answer the question, is this suffering or discipline? If upon close examination of your circumstances, your attitude and your view of who God is, you come to the conclusion this is suffering then turn your heart and mind to prayer and seeking what the Lord Jesus Christ is trying to accomplish in your life through this time. It may be building your faith for a future work He has laid out or to prepare you for a trial which you are not yet ready for or He could be doing this to open an opportunity for ministry to others, the writer of Hebrews makes this point in chapter 12 starting at verse 6. This could also be persecution for the stand you have already taken and this trial is further proof of your position in Christ as the Apostle Peter speaks about. The point is that the Lord God Almighty has brought this time into your life for His glory and your benefit. Take courage in Christ Jesus in this time.
But …
What if you realize now that what is happening is the result of sin? There is good news for you, confess your sin and God will forgive you! In the book of 1 John 1:9 it states clearly “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” John is writing to believers, brothers who he wants to see live a life full of God’s joy (verse 4). Notice John puts himself in the category of sinning by stating "if we confess our sins," He knows he still needs forgiveness for individual sins (overtaken by a fault as Paul states in Galatians 6:1) even though Christ paid the complete price for this at the cross. This is a promise right from God Himself, if you confess He WILL forgive. So confess and be forgiven and enter back into His joy.
Notice the surrounding verses, these are about determining if the truth is in us. If you think that Believers do not sin after salvation the Apostle John and the Holy Spirit say you are wrong. We sin and therefore we need to confess our sin. There is nothing here about believing in Jesus Christ. Salvation and confession of sin are separate and distinct issues. Remember the Phillipian Jailer in Acts 16:30, he asked “What must I do to be saved?” The answer was simple “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” No mention of repentance, no call to be baptized or to attend church. Just believe that Jesus is who He said He is. Salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) and does not require repentance or confession of sins which are works. Are we commanded to repent? Yes.
Repentance is the act of recognizing our thoughts, attitudes and actions are wrong in God’s eyes and we are ready to change them to be more like Him. It can be in connection with salvation as in changing your mind about who Christ Jesus is and now believe the good news. We see this in Mark 1:15 where Jesus tells the people to repent (change their beliefs) and believe the gospel. But often repentance is spoken to those who already are believers in Jesus the Son of God as in Simon, who was a sorcerer, in Acts 8:22 and desired the gift of healing but was rebuked for thinking it could be bought or in 2 Corinthians 7:8 where Paul was not sorry for causing sorrow to them. The point is to consider each passage where repentance is talked about and determine if it is speaking to unbelievers to change their mind about Christ and receive salvation or to believers who need to change their mind about doctrine or their actions and change their ways.
Look to the book of James in Chapter 3 and verse 2 to see that God knows we will offend Him and stumble in our walk. “For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he [is] a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.” (NKJV) It is clear God knows our nature and does not expect perfection from us, we will stumble, get tripped up by our own thoughts or by this world. The issue is one of offending God by making poor choices. I want you to be encouraged that your sin does not remove your salvation, your sin only means you are human and need restoration to fellowship like 1 John 1:9 says. This is deliverance.
The only barrier to the Christian taking part in the deliverance God has laid out for them is to think they don't sin and therefore don't need to repent or to think their sin is too offensive. If God can forgive Paul for persecuting the Church so violently and consenting to the murder of Stephen and then use Paul to write so much of the New Testament, surely He will forgive you.
I am a person just like you; I was separated from God by my own sin until I considered Christ Jesus and accepted the gift of salvation. I am still human and am drawn away by my own desires and still sin and need to confess to receive His forgiveness. So don't just trust or discount me, go and look it up for yourself. The Bereans in Acts 17:11 were called more honorable for checking scripture to see if what the Apostle Paul was teaching them was correct.
A Side Note: Look to this related article on why Armenianism and Calvinism are both right and wrong at the same time. They each take an exclusive viewpoint and miss the unity and beauty of God and His scripture. Please don't confuse salvation issues with problems related to living a Godly life.
Updated: January 29, 2012
