Have you ever noticed how sometimes well-meaning Christians say contradictory things? For example, sometimes in gatherings where multiple people are praying, a person will pipe up and say something like, "Lord, You said that whenever two or more are gathered together in Your name that You will be in the midst of them. Well Lord, there are more than two of us here, so we know that You are with us!"
I remember hearing people quote those words from the Gospel of Matthew and thinking to myself, "So what does THAT imply? Does that mean that Jesus ISN'T at the center of our prayer experience if at least TWO people aren't praying together? What if I'm praying by myself? Is Jesus ignoring me until I round up a partner?"
I'll let you sit on that one for awhile. I do have an opinion - but I want to raise an issue about a contradiction which is infinitely more important than the example above. The issue I'd like to discuss relates to God's forgiveness for us through Christ. For years I grew up hearing preachers talk about how we are eternally "forgiven" of all of our sins (past, present and future) when we receive Christ and become children of God. I agree with this as a basic tenet of genuine Christianity.
Yet, on the other hand I grew up being told that Christians must confess their sins to God on a regular basis in order to find forgiveness for individual sins. The idea was to "keep short accounts" with God so as to "maintain close fellowship" (whatever that meant). Most of the rationale was based on 1 John 1:9, which says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all unrighteousness." Now, you can see where the double-talk comes in. If I am eternally forgiven of all my sins the moment I receive Christ as Savior - why must I continually confess my sin in order to receive forgiveness and purification?" Is that REALLY what 1 John 1:9 is saying?
Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts...
Took you awhile to post something on this... :) Have you read Prodigal God yet? I think it is another good book that celebrates God's grace, not only to the "lost" but also for the religious...
ReplyDeleteJeremy, I'm glad you brought this up. When I have prayed this or have heard other people pray this, I'm also not fully sure what it means. Why I have prayed that not knowing was more out of liturgy and tradition. In reading the passage in Matthew 18, Jesus mentions the use of two or three witnesses to establish every word that was said. I think this is more of a call to accountability rather than the invitation for the Father/Jesus/Holy Spirit to be apart of the prayers we offer. I think it is good to pray with small groups since the Spirit can minister to all of us through the individual cries of each heart in participation. However, Jesus also call us to pray in our closet, shut the door, and pray to the Father who is in secret (Matthew 6:6).
ReplyDeleteOn your second point concerning the need for forgiveness, the same rule applies as I previously mentioned. I think John is going back to what Jesus was saying during the Sermon on the Mount in that prayer to the Father in our lives especially in matters of salvation are entirely personal between God and you. In Philippians 2, Paul encourages the church there to work out their salvation with fear and trembling since it is God who works in you to will and act according to his good purpose. Since it is a matter between me/you and God, do what you have to do to maintain relationship regardless of what that is. But this is not to neglect the goodness of God that brought us unto repentance. If it wasn't for the cross, we would be without hope. In short, I think God, once we are his through faith, has us in his grip. I think the eternal forgiveness idea valid but most of the preachers I have heard on this, imply this point too often and leave us with ambiguous and contradictory soteriological doctrines. The Gospel is simple enough with no need for implication.
Thanks for posting Robert and Mike. I just wrote an epic reply but it vanished when I tried to post it! BUMMER! I don't have time to re-write it at the moment but I will in the future...
ReplyDeleteAny other thoughts are welcome!
Hi Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteGreat Post. I agree with Mike. But I wanted to add one more idea.
One reason to praise God is because he deserves it. He is GOD. Another reason to praise him is to "keep us in our place". It is a wonderful reminder of where we are in relation to him.
So it is with asking for forgiveness. Even though we already have eternal forgiveness, it shows God (and ourselves) our heart. I believe this why God instructs us to seek forgiveness for our sins. He knows how our minds work and without asking for forgivenss from him, our guilt can overwhelm us to the point of not following him with a pure heart. It is difficult to have a clear concious if we are feeling bad or convicted about something we have done. We cannot live out our call to live in freedom from sin if we have something "hanging over our heads".
I would use the same scripture Mike did in Phillippeans.
In my understanding, the passage in 1 John was written as a call to false Gnostic teachers to repent and turn to God for forgiveness. John was not in any way saying that Christians had to confess their sins, but rather, he was stating that if "we" confess our sins (we being the Gnostics who had infiltrated the church) God will forgive "us" our "sins" and "cleanse us from all unrighteousness." As Christians, we are already cleansed from unrighteousness and free from condemnation. We are born again and adopted Children of God who need not put on the bondage of asking God for forgiveness for sin.
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it, Andy!
ReplyDelete