Back to Basics
Friday, March 14, 2008
Prayer: Confession – The Antidote for Sin
Read 1 John 1:5-10.
The prayer of CONFESSION, which along with REPENTANCE, IS the antidote for sin. But before we can even talk about confession, we have to start with the reality of sin. Most of us would acknowledge, in some general way at least, that we’re sinners. We know we have “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” as the Bible puts it. But the reality and impact of sin has been so dulled by our culture that we need to be reminded of the absolute pervasiveness of sin in our world and in our lives apart from Jesus’ presence in them.
The basic reality of life according to Jesus is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That’s living in the light! When the light is in us – we love God and we love each other. In that condition, or I should say to get in that condition, the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin – from darkness. One of the biggest challenges we face as followers of Jesus Christ today is our culture doesn’t value holy living, and most Christians don’t believe it’s possible. Christians often wink at sin. We come to worship. We praise God – genuinely praise God. We acknowledge that He’s worthy of our adoration. We’re awed by His majesty and the vastness and beauty of His creation. We read His word and we accept His challenges to live in the light. Then we go out and no one – NO ONE – supports that commitment. Commercials, sitcoms, billboards, and often educational settings proclaim that the goal of life is HAPPINESS. Happiness comes from satisfying our desires. We know it’s wrong. We know it’s darkness dressed up to look like light, but we fall for it. All too often we fall for it. It’s in those moments that the most important decisions of our lives come. We either “go with the flow,” accept that our culture’s lies are valid and step back into darkness, OR we let the cleansing blood of Jesus wash away our sin and keep us in the light.
There’s nothing more basic than this: The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. How much sin? ALL.
Challenge: I will “agree with God” when I sin, so I may know His forgiveness and victory over it!
Take time to thank God for the blood of His Son and your Savior Jesus for cleansing you from all your sin. Agree with God!
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