CONFESSING MY SINS

Too often we in the Christian church tend to think of evangelism as communicating to the “lost” that they are sinners who need to repent and turn to Jesus.

But, if we want to talk about sinfulness I really think we have to be willing to start with our own.

Like, what if the way we did evangelism was to go out together, in groups of two or three, and find a stranger and pull them aside and say, “Hey, I just wanted you to know that I am a sinner and I really need Jesus in my daily life. Would you pray for me?”

Just imagine if we started the conversation by freely admitting our own need for Jesus like that. Wouldn’t that change the entire conversation? Wouldn’t that fulfill Jesus’s admonition to first deal with the beam in our own eyes before we attempt to remove the speck in someone else’s eye?

Today I was reminded once more that I am a sinner and that I need Jesus more than anyone else I know.

My failure was profound, and shameful, and it hurt some of the people I care most about in the whole world.

On one hand, I can see how God can take this failure and make something good out of it. 

If nothing else it shines a much-needed light into a dark place in my heart that still needs to be touched by Him and be transformed by His irresistible love. 

So, that is a good thing [the exposure of our sin, not the sin itself of course].

See, our sin flourishes in the darkness. When it comes into the light it dies. So, as painful as it is to look at it, our ugly sinful nature starts to die the moment we put it on display and call it by name.

Still, the shock of seeing our sin in the daylight isn’t comfortable. It’s painful and it’s wrapped tightly in a shroud of disappointment and heartache and failure. 

These emotions can easily overwhelm us if we do not quickly turn to Jesus and receive His forgiveness and experience the restoration that comes only from Him.

I've said it before: our walk with Jesus is a process. Thankfully we don’t fall down the entire journey, but on those [hopefully] rare occasions that we do, He is quick to turn our failures into opportunities to grow, and somehow to work it all into our ongoing transformation into people who look and act and love like Him.

It’s not about getting it perfectly right. It’s not about never stumbling or falling on our face. It's about humility. It’s about admitting we need His help and giving each other Grace to keep going. 

So, if we really want to speak the Truth in love, then our message to others can't be, "You're a filthy sinner and you need Jesus". Instead it should really be, "Hey, I'm a filthy sinner and I need Jesus. Please pray for me.”

Our invitation to others should be to ask them to join us as we follow Jesus daily and seek His face and partake of His mercy and grace.

If we did this, it would not only place the emphasis where Jesus put it - on following Him daily and surrendering our will to His – it would also force every single one of us to admit our need for Jesus, regardless of how long we’ve been a Christian or much we’ve studied the scriptures.

Our calling, ultimately, is to love people, and that can only be done in relationship. This relationship will best reflect Christ if it is marked by a heaping helping of love and forgiveness for one another. 

God will convict people of their sins just fine without us - because that's what He said He would do.

Plus, He specifically told us that it is not our place to convict people of their sins. 

His new command to us was simply this: “Love others as I have loved you.”

That seems like more than enough of a challenge to me, don't you agree?

Because, if we love people we make room for the grace of God to touch their hearts. 

If we judge people, our condemnation becomes a barrier and a veil that makes it very hard for them to see the love of Jesus in us. And if they can’t see the love of Jesus in us, please tell me where they supposed to see it?

“Hello. My name is Keith. I am a sinner and I really need Jesus in my life. Please pray for me.”

-kg

Debunking the Myth that the Father turned away from Jesus on the Cross

On the cross, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?”

From this single sentence, many bible teachers and pastors have theorized that it was in this moment that the Father looked away from Jesus – because of all of our sins being laid upon Jesus – and it was in this moment that Jesus experienced separation from the Father for the only time in all of eternity.

As dramatic and poetically compelling that might be, the truth is simply this: The Bible nowhere supports this theory.

So, where does it come from?

Well, apparently the teaching that the Father actually did forsake Jesus on the cross, and that Jesus experienced separation from the Father comes from a few assumptions:

First, the assumption that God is too holy to look upon sin.

Second, the assumption that Jesus’ cry from the cross at that moment was meant to communicate that His Father did actually forsake him.

Let’s take these two assumptions one at a time and see if they are true.

Is God really too holy to look upon sin? Not according to the scriptures.

Instead, we see all throughout the Bible that God does indeed look at mankind. We see that God’s eyes move to and fro over all the earth, searching the hearts and minds of His people. [See 2 Chron.16:9; Job 31:4; Jerem. 16:17; Zech. 4:10; etc.]

“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” – [Heb. 4:13]

Q: What would happen if God wasn’t able to look at sin?

A: It would mean that looking at us would be pointless because all He could ever see was a world full of sinful people [which is everyone].

The doctrine that God is too holy to look upon sin is actually based on one single verse of scripture in the Old Testament that says:

“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.”  [Habbukuk 1:13]

But if you keep reading that chapter what you’ll notice is that Habbukuk wraps up that statement by asking: “So, why do you?”

In other words, the question is asked assumptively, but then the question itself is cast into doubt as the prophet observes that God does indeed look on evil after all.

Another verse that is often used to support this idea that God is too holy to look upon our sins is found in Isaiah where we read:

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” [Isaiah 59:2]

But if we keep reading [a good idea as you can see], we read:

“The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.” [v.16]

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,who is on you, will not depart from you…” [v.21]

So, here, in the very same chapter, we read that God DOES look, and that He DOES see our sins, and that “[His] Spirit…will not depart…”

Finally, let’s look at Jesus. He was the “exact representation of the Father” and he was the only one who had ever seen God and who came to reveal the Father to us.

What do we notice about Jesus? Does He, as God in the flesh, avert his gaze when surrounded by sinners? Hardly! Instead, those sinners are his closest friends. He spends so much time with them that the religious elite [who, by the way, were too holy to spend time with sinners], criticized him for it.

So, is God really “too holy to look on our sin”?

Absolutely not!

Second: When Jesus says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” doesn’t that mean that His Father really did forsake Him?

No.

This statement from Jesus was a quote from Psalm 22 which begins:

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” [v.1]

But, this is a Messianic Psalm. In this Psalm we also read prophetic statements like:

“…they pierce my hands and my feet.” [v. 16]

“…They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” [v.18]

Perhaps Jesus is quoting this Psalm because he hopes to point out how these exact words are being fulfilled in their midst?

Note also what this same Psalm has to say about what God is doing:

“For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.” [v.24]

Wait…what?

The Psalmist says that they will pierce the hands and the feet of the Messiah, and that they will divide his clothes and cast lots for his garments…and that God “will not hide His face from him”.

So…once more I need to ask: “Did the Father turn His face away from Jesus when He was on the cross?”

No. Not even once.

Finally, notice that Jesus affirms that His Father will never abandon Him:

“Jesus replied. “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” [John 16:31-33]

Notice that Jesus not only affirms that His Father will not leave him [even though the disciples will], but that this abandonment by the disciples and the ever-present nature of the Father occurs at the same time: While Jesus is hanging on the cross!

This really should not surprise us.

God promises all through the scriptures that He will never leave us or forsake us.

Jesus reminds us that He will be with us always, even unto the end of the age.

[See Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5; Deut. 31:6, Isaiah 41:10, etc.]

So, to recap:

The Father did NOT look away from Jesus while He was on the cross.

God is NOT too holy to look at sin. [Jesus did it all the time]

God will NOT leave or forsake us, either.

I hope that helps!

If this has blessed you, please share it with your friends on social media.

Thanks!

Keith

*NOTE: Written with assistance from insights gleaned from Brian Zahnd, Brad Jersak and others.

For more on this:

Brad Jersak: A Beautiful Gospel in Chairs

A cry of dereliction?

Cognitive Dissonance Re-Examined by Laura Anaya

[NOTE: This guest blog post is a response to my podcast “Cognitive Dissonance”]

A thought on cognitive dissonance,  and the anger people have at being confronted with truth  - even truth you agree with. 

One of the key teachings of the church I grew up in was that the sin of Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the tree of Knowledge of good and evil was disobedience. Very little attention, if any, is placed on the effect of the fruit itself, or the doubt in Eve's mind about God being on her side leading up to taking the fruit. 

However in my walk back to understanding God's love I found that there is a profound effect of fear that the fruit of needing certitude of good vs evil has on one’s  life.  It is a shame-based fear that envelopes us when we see ourselves in the wrong.  And we instinctively take measures to protect. 

Adam and Eve covered themselves and hid.  We continue to cover ourselves and hide from each other even when we know our errors.  Often we embrace the certitude of claiming Christ’s name and believing He is God to ensure we are in the “Good” camp, but we do not give up the false security of the fruit of the Tree of Death. We remain self-protective rather than embracing Christ's way of vulnerable self-sacrificing service, and placing our certitude in Him rather than ourselves getting the right understanding and right doing and right saying that will earn the favor of God. 

When this happens we often look good on the outside but continue to rot on the inside.  And any truth that confronts our beliefs will be met with anger or defense, not because it is wrong but because if we realize we can be wrong in one area of our life it shakes the foundation of our salvation, which is a right understanding, and doing Christianity rather than Christ Himself.

I truly appreciate your love and the messages you speak.  Many must die to self-protection and embrace Christ-protection to hear the truth.  It is a painful process to die to self-protection and self-certainty; the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good vs Evil. 

When we claim this as Adam and Eve's sin and don't recognize it as fruit we continue to eat of it ourselves we deny it's deadly effects in our lives today. 

It is difficult, if not impossible, to eat of it and embrace the self-sacrificing service of love Christ made us for and died to regain for us.

-Laura Anaya