Confess your sins to one another

Confess your Sin to One Another

Intro

I fully relize todays topic is not going to be a popular message.

We don’t like to talk about sin

it usually something we rather ignore and sweep under the rug.

allow everyone to struggle on their own

but that’s exactly what the enemy wants you to do.

darkness is the friend of sin. When we shine the light of God’s Love on it, its very difficult for sin to exist

the why James tells us in his letter

James 5:14–20 NASB95

14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. 19 My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, 20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Let’s Pray

What is Sin?

sin is an archery term meaning to miss the mark.

sin means simply to do, say, or believe something outside of God’s will

it can be doing the wrong or not doing the right thing

It can be saying the wrong thing or not saying the right thing

It can be believing the wrong this, or not beleieving the right thing

and there are consequences to sin....

Consequences of sin

This big one

Romans 6:23 NASB95

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sin is what brought death into the world.

before Adam and Eve sinned in the garden,

there was no dealth

there was no pain, no suffering, no evil

Everything was good!

But sinned changed all that.

we now live ina fallen world due to the consequences of sin.

Genesis 1:27 NASB95

27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 2:17–18 NASB95

17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” 18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

Genesis 3:6–8 NASB95

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Genesis 3:22–24 NASB95

22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

5 things happend to the human race when Adam and eve were removed from the garden

Loss of righteousness

Seperation from God

Cursed enviroment

Physical Death

Need for clothing

David expands on this in Psalms 51

Psalm 51:1–12 NASB95

1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit.

David had no means to overcome sin other than ritual sacrifice.

yet he knew the consequence of sin

Seperation from God and removal of Holy Spirit vs 11

Loss of Joy vs 12

David could only overcome his sin through ritual sacrifice

Lev 1 tells us of the Burnt offering

Leviticus 1:4–5 NASB95

4 ‘He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf. 5 ‘He shall slay the young bull before the Lord; and Aaron’s sons the priests shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

The burnt offering was the most important sacrifice at most Israelite festivals and was offered once every morning and once every evening. Bringing the burnt offering was a very personal experience,

To make atonement for his sin and to gain God’s acceptance, the offerer identified himself with the animal by laying his hand on the animal’s head. When the animal died, it died for the offerer’s sins.

Guilt Offering

The guilt offering asked for something beyond sacrifice; it required restitution.

The guilty person had to confess his sin publicly, offer the blood sacrifice, and also make full restitution of what was defrauded, adding an additional twenty percent.

Rather than a cheap or easy repentance, this dearly cost the person who sinned.

Lev 4 tells us of the sin offering

the sin offering was sacrificed when a person sinned unintentionally by breaking one of the Lord’s commandments and later realized his guilt

This was Davids only method of getting right with God

God’s people in the OT new the high cost of sin.

they had to sacrifice something of great value to make things right.

But there was a problem.

Animal sacrifice only covered over their sins.

It hide their sins from God’s view

There was a better way

Romans 5:12–18 NASB95

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16 The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. 17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. 18 So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

Jesus’s purpose in coming to earth was to provide the means for all people to overcome sin

It was simply to cover it over, but ti wash it out of existence

By dying on the cross Jesus satisfied the jusice of God, by dying in our place

Like i the OT when the person would put their hand on the head of the animal and the animal would then die in thier place

Jesus died in our place!

And by rising from the grave Jesus demonstrated His power of death and the grave!

7 deadly sins

now in the catholic tradition there are 7 deadly sins?

1) Lust 2) Gluttony 3) Greed 4) Sloth 5) Wrath 6) Envy 7)Pride

but every sin is deadly.

The payment for any sin is death

And that’s why Jesus had to die in our place

There are no big sins or little sins

sin is sin

The Bible does make a distinction

1 Corinthians 6:18 NASB95

18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.

Why does God hate sin?

Proverbs 6:16–19 NASB95

16 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

God hates sin, and wants us to have no part of it

Because sin destroys us, and God paid a very high price to eradacate that sin

The enemy tempts us to sin to sow theft, death, and destruction in our lives

When we sin we play right into the enemies hands.

How we overcome sin in our lives?

Let’s be honest, as a beleiver you know when you do something wrong.

Holy Spirit is always quick to remind us when we’ve missed the mark

but for many Christian they can get caught in this

sin > confess > sin > confess cycle

have you ever confess a sin multiple times.

we call that habitual sin, and its one of the enemies greatest weapons

it can be worry, fear, lust, envy, greed

well to honest it can be just about anything.

whenever you aligned youself with the enemy against God

that may be a hard rebuke, but that is what sin is

let’s take the example of worry.

worry is trustung the enemies plans over God’s.

How do you overcome that?

inject repentance into the cycle

sin > confess > repent > move on

repent means to turn 180 degrees and go the other direction.

Why should we confess our sins to One Another?

The letter from James emphasizes the power of prayer in the life of believers.

It also reminds us that, even if we truly know and love the Lord, we still sin.

While we remain in these earthly bodies, we will continue to battle with sin.

Some have said

In the body of Christ, sometimes we sin against our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

James 5:16 tells us what to do when we sin against one another:

James 5:16 NASB95

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

I beleive that to be true and somethiing we should do

we should also recognise there is a benefit to confessing sins to one another even if that sin is not against that person

The word confess means “to agree,” “to admit,” or “to say the same thing.”

Confession is saying the same thing as God does about sin or having the same perspective on sin as God does.

It involves identifying sin for what it truly is, honestly acknowledging the offenses we have committed.

James instructs believers who are struggling with sin to seek faithful and trusted brothers and sisters in Christ who will intercede for them in their battle with sin.

He is not suggesting that we confess our sins carelessly to just anyone, but to mature believers who will provide spiritual and practical support.

Of course, we should also confess our sins to those we have sinned against, as we seek forgiveness and restoration.

I remember an incident that happend a few decades ago. A family friends of ours son had a child before they were married to his wife.

Yes the Bible considers Fornication to be a sin

However the church they attended thought the couple should come to the front of the church and confess their sins to everyone in a big public display

Thats was not James’s intent

confessing your sin one to another is not a big public even, unless of course it a public sin.

In his commentary Opening Up James, Roger Ellsworth sheds further light on why we should confess our sins to one another:

“Confession should always be as wide as the sin.

If we have sinned secretly, we should confess it to God.

If we have sinned against someone else, we should confess it to God and to the person whom we have wronged.

And if we have sinned publicly, we should confess it to God and in public” (Day One Publications, 2009, p. 162).

That being said:

Confessing our sins to one another in the body of Christ can break the power of secret sin.

Covering up sin has no profit but yields negative consequences:

Psalm 32:3–5 NASB95

3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

Confession of secret sin should be made with discretion.

Depending on the situation, there may be no need to shout the sin from the rooftops.

Confession involves choosing wise and trustworthy confidantes who will handle the truth appropriately.

Besides making us hypocrites in the world, hidden sin breaks our fellowship with God and keeps us isolated from others.

Confession, on the other hand, brings God’s mercy, forgiveness, freedom from guilt, strength through fellowship, and a multitude of blessings from God

Confession, while an essential part of the Christian life, does not require a priest or any other church-appointed human mediator.

There is only One who can absolve us of sin, and that is God

there is only one Mediator between us and God, and that is Jesus Christ

We confess our sins to one another in order to solicit prayer, exhortation, and strength along the way.

Conclusion

In conclusion this is my recomendation according to scripture

go before God daily in prayer and ask

God have I sinned against you in any way?

then wait for God to bring thing to your mind

confess and repent each one

then ask God i you have sinned against anyone else

then wait for God to bring thing to your mind

confess and repent each one before God

then make plans to confess and repent of that sin before the offended individual

If you find youself confessing about the same thing over and over again

make a plan to share those struggles with a fellow beleiver whom you trust to speak truth to you.

Now if your on the receiving end and someone come and confesses to you

if you’re the offended party forgive and begin the process of restoration

If you’e the one they are looking to for support. Don’t sit in judgement. but prayerfully consider how you can restore them, and encourage them to as Jesus said “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

John 8:11 NASB95

11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

Help walk the journey to freedom

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