Christians, why is it right to confess our sins but not the benefits of salvation? ?

Question

Your thoughts appreciated!

Answer 1

Hi brother Lover of Blue, I was not sure where this question is coming from, but having read your other question about holy communion, I think I have an inkling now. :)

At first, when I read the above question, I thought it was saying that it is alright for Christians to confess our sins but not for the purpose of gaining or receiving salvation, with reference to 1 John 1:9 as well as James 5:16.

But now, having read your question again, I understand it to be asking why it is right for Christians to confess our sins, but it is NOT right for us to confess the benefits of salvation. Hope I'm on the right track this time. :)

My take on this matter is that Christians should be confessing our righteousness in Christ, instead of our sins. And it is right for us to confess the benefits of salvation because the way we receive them is to confess them.

The Bible says once we have confessed Jesus is our Lord and believed God raised Him from the dead, we are saved and made right with God. (Romans 10:9-10)

Having been made right with God, we are the righteousness of God in Christ. We are no more sinners but righteous men and women in Christ in God's holy eyes.

(2 Corinthians 5:21)

Yet, as we are aware, there are some churches and ministries that teach us that Christians must continue to confess their sins whenever they fail, in order for God to forgive them, or for the blood of Jesus to wash their sins away.

I believe this is due to a misunderstanding of 1 John 1, as well as a lack of understanding of the gospel of grace, which declares us righteous by faith in Christ, not by our works. (Romans 1:16-17)

I learnt that 1 John chapter 1 was written to the gnostics who were yet believers, since John also added "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us." (verse 10)

On the other hand, 1 John chapter 2 was written to the believers in Christ, because John began the chapter with "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous."

So we need to rightly divide the word of truth, between what is meant for the unbelievers and what is meant for the believers.

Now, granted that 1 John 1:9 is still being commonly taught for believers to apply, we need to take note that the word "confess" means "to say the same thing as, or to agree with" in the original Greek language.

So when we want to confess our sins to God, since we have a new heart which is sensitive to our own shortcomings, we need to know that we are actually agreeing with God's words that say all our sins have already been forgiven and we have already been made righteous by the blood of Jesus shed at the cross. For His words also say, "In Him we have (not 'trying to have' or 'will have') redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

On the other hand, if we think we must confess our sins in order for God to forgive us, we are actually saying Christ has not yet died on the cross (and He must come down to earth to be crucified all over again), or we are saying Jesus did not do a perfect work of redemption, and we must add our works of confession to "help" Him finish His work.

This is no small matter, especially when it has to do with our personal walk with God, and it directly affects our entire well-being - spirit, soul and body. If we do not know the truth of the gospel and we are seriously going to confess our sins, we would end up being sin-conscious all day long. And even after we think we have finished confessing our sins, there would be a niggling feeling at the back of our mind that maybe there is still one more sin left out, for "whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:23) Worry is sin, as well as doubt. Or the devil would love to remind us of our past mistakes. And the sad result is that we would never come to a place where we can feel right with God, and enjoy His love and peace like little children.

Another scenario would be if we think we can get right with God by confessing our sins, instead of trusting in Jesus' finished work at the cross, we would become self-righteous. We would think "Oh, I've done my three-hour prayer this morning. I think God must be pleased with me now." Then when we see a brother or sister who has not prayed like we did, we would tend to look down on him or her, thinking he or she must have been backslidden, and we are holier than them. But as we know, Jesus hates self-righteousness the most, going by His strong words to the Pharisees during his meal with the tax-collectors.

May the Lord grant us all a deeper understanding and revelation of the gospel, helping us to understand that Jesus' perfect sacrifice has already removed ALL our sins, once and for all eternity!

"But this Man, after He had offered ONE sacrifice for sins FOREVER, sat down at the right hand of God." (Hebrews 10:12)

Now we come to the second part of the question: Why is it not right for Christians to confess the benefits of salvation?

First, let us look at the benefits of salvation, as David wrote:

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not ALL His benefits: Who forgives ALL your iniquities, who heals ALL your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is RENEWED like the eagle's." (Psalm 103:2-5)

Now, if David could sing and declare the benefits of salvation while under the old covenant of law, how much more should we Christians, who are under the new covenant of grace, celebrate and confess the benefits of our salvation through Jesus' finished work at the cross! We have a better covenant, established upon better promises, and sealed by a better blood than the blood of Abel - Jesus' blood that speaks forgiveness and justification. (Hebrews 12:24)

So, now why is it then that some churches and ministries frown upon the practice of Christians confessing the benefits of salvation? Especially since salvation also means not just saved from h**l or lake of fire, but also soundness, wholeness, healing, deliverance, preservation and prosperity in every area of our lives ("soteria" in Greek). Healing and prosperity especially have become taboos in some Christian circles, being treated as if they are of the world or the devil.

Again, I believe it is due to a lack of understanding of the gospel that Paul preached in Romans and Galatians. It could also be due to conspiracy by the devil and his fallen angels, to blind the world (and perhaps even churches) from seeing the glorious light of the gospel. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Due to religious teachings, Christians are taught that to deny oneself and take up the cross and follow Jesus means to deny all worldly possessions and bear the heavy burdens of the cross.

Now with all due respect, I am not knocking on this interpretation of Jesus' words to His disciples. I believe in laying up treasures in heaven and not being attached to worldly possessions. I believe that I have crucified with Jesus and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me. I believe in following the Holy Spirit's leading in my life.

But we need to interpret the Bible in the light of the gospel, and see everything through the cross of Jesus Christ. Because the cross changes everything - Jesus' death, burial and resurrection has fulfilled the law on our behalf, and made us new creations, sons and daughters of God, kings and priests, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

We are no more servants, nor do we need to serve in order to be right with God. Instead, we are His children and we choose to serve out of an overflow of His love for us, not to make Him love us more.

"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." (Romans 8:16-17)

Now, someone may say, "There, the verse says we must suffer with Jesus". Well yes, I believe Christians do need to endure sufferings for righteousness' sake, and it has its place in moulding and refining our faith and character. (Romans 5:4, 1 Peter 1:7).

But let's be careful not to overemphasise our sufferings to the point of neglecting the power and authority that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us to withstand the wiles of the evil one in the evil day. (Ephesians 6) Let's not subscribe to religious teachings that say God purposely gives us sicknesses and diseases and accidents and disasters to chasten His children or to teach us a lesson. That is not scriptural, because sicknesses, diseases, poverty, lack and every other evil thing is not from God, but came as a result of Adam's disobedience. Besides, the devil is the one who steals, kills and destroys, but Jesus has come to give us LIFE, and life more abundantly. (John 10:10)

Contrary to religious beliefs, the way God chastens us is through His words. His chastening always causes us to live, not die.

"Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and LIVE?" (Hebrews 12:9)

And Jesus' cross is not a heavy burden to bear. He said, "My yoke is EASY and my burden is LIGHT." (Matthew 11:30) John wrote, "His commandments are NOT burdensome." (1 John 5:3)

God makes salvation and christian living easy for us, but man's religion makes it hard. That's no different during Jesus' days when the Pharisees did the same thing.

Answer 2

There is nothing wrong with discussing the benefits of salvation.

Chris should read....James 2:24  "You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone."

Answer 3

Salvation is by FAITH ALONE in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is that simple to be saved  :)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is this: The truth is that the only way to be saved and to get into heaven and avoid being sent to eternal h**l is by believing in faith alone that Jesus, who is God, died for our sins on the cross and rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Believe this and you are saved!

Please pray now: "Jesus, please forgive me of my sins. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and You rose from the dead. Thank You for eternal life!" You will be in heaven with Him forever when you die :)

Answer 4

Okay, what you mean is that it is right for Christians to confess our sins although we are saved?  I John 1:9 and Acts 3:19 tell us we should do this.  We need a refreshing from the presence of the Lord.  We need a renewing and we need fresh anointings in order to minister to others.