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Confessing our sins?
Question:
Should we, as Christians, be confessing our sins?Answer:
A handful of rather vocal popular evangelical teachers have begun to insist in recent years that Christians who have already been forgiven of sins by the atonement of Christ no longer need to ask God for forgiveness once they have committed to Christ. The best-known proponent of this view is popular author and radio speaker, Bob George. His views have been laid out in his pretentiously titled book, Classic Christianity. Although there is much to be commended in his writings, his insistence on resisting daily confession is troubling. In his book, Growing in Grace, Bob George characterizes Christians who pray for regular forgiveness as people “who live in daily insecurity” and as people “who doubt whether all their sins are forgiven.”1It is our assertion at Mill Creek Community Church that such a teaching is incompatible with a biblical view of sanctification and discipleship. In its full-blown form it can easily lead to a form of antinomianism (an ancient heresy consisting of an extreme view of Christian liberty that legitimizes sinful practice). George’s views at their root confuse biblical teaching on sanctification. Such teaching misunderstands the difference between Positional Sanctification (the believer’s “legal” declaration of righteousness at salvation) with Personal Sanctification (the believer’s daily obedience in holy living which necessarily entails confession of individual sins). It also ignores Jesus’ own teaching on confession in the Lord’s Prayer and the clear teaching of 1 John 1:8-10 which is directed to all believers:
1 John 1:8 -10 (NIV)
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
John MacArthur has brilliantly defended the true “classic” position of scripture on the subject in his book, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness. The entire third chapter of his book deals with Bob George’s teaching specifically. MacArthur links the fallacy of George’s thinking with the reality of sanctification and explains that there are two levels of forgiveness that must be understood by the maturing disciple.
Why must we seek God’s forgiveness if He has already granted forgiveness in justification?
The answer is that divine forgiveness has two aspects. One is the judicial forgiveness God grants as Judge. This is the forgiveness that was purchased by the atonement Christ rendered on our behalf. This kind of forgiveness frees us from any threat of eternal condemnation. It is the forgiveness of justification. Such pardon is immediately complete and never needs to be sought again.
The other is a parental forgiveness God grants as our Father. He is grieved when His children sin. The forgiveness of justification takes care of judicial guilt, but it does not nullify His fatherly displeasure over our sin. He chastens those whom He loves, for their temporal good (Heb. 12:5-10).
So the forgiveness Christians are supposed to seek in their daily walk is not pardon from an angry Judge, but mercy from a grieved Father…
Judicial forgiveness deals with the penalty of our sins. Parental forgiveness deals with sin’s consequences… Judicial forgiveness gives us an unshakable standing before the throne of divine judgment. Parental forgiveness deals with the state of our sanctification at any given moment and is dispensed from a throne of divine forgiveness (Heb 4:16). As Judge, God is eager to forgive sinners; but as a Father He is equally eager to keep on forgiving and cleansing His children from the defilement of their sin.2
In summary, the biblical view of the issue of forgiveness as it relates to sanctification looks something like this:
|
Positional Sanctification |
Personal Sanctification |
|
God as Judge |
God as Father |
|
Confession of Sin for Salvific Cleansing |
Confession of Sin for Daily Relationship |
|
Appropriation of Christ’s Righteousness |
Reception of Father’s Forgiveness |
|
Resistance to Gospel = Eternal Judgment |
Resistance to Conviction = Discipline |
Footnotes:
1 Bob George, Growing in Grace (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 1990), p.67
2 John MacArthur, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), p.58
For further study:
John MacArthur, The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998)
