Admitting Sin

Introduction

I’ve found in life that there are usually a few ways we confess our wrongs to other people.

We are truly moved by the fact that we wronged someone, sinning against them and God.

We don’t want to get caught, so we confess first, hoping for a better outcome.

We confess a lesser wrong, hoping the person will ignore, or not find out about the greater wrong.

We do a pseudo-confession. By that I mean, “I did _____, but...” The “but” negates the confession. Or, “I wouldn’t have done _____, if you hadn’t ____” i.e. “My confession is, it’s really your fault.”

Confessing sin is an important, and yet hard spiritual discipline. But, it’s one we must develop if we are to truly grow in our walk with Christ.

We are continuing our study on the Lord’s Prayer.

We’ve seen the first part, praising God…

Second, we looked at yielding to God’s will…

Last week we learned about making requests to God for ourselves and others…

Now, we will look at the most challenging part of prayer: admitting our sins and seeking forgiveness.

Matthew 6:12-15

Timeless Truth: Our prayers should include admitting our sins before God and seeking to make reconciliation with people.

Seeking forgiveness of our sins.

This is not judicial forgiveness, like we receive at conversion. Huh?

Judicial forgiveness is where the Judge, God, judges people as forgiven because of the completed work of Christ Jesus, which gifts Christ’s righteousness to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is a vital truth that man’s greatest problem is sin, and his greatest need is forgiveness of sin.

This forgiveness is only accomplished by Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.

We are not forgiven because of anything we have done, are doing, or will do.

Therefore, the forgiveness Jesus is speaking about here is not judicial forgiveness because, if you are a saved believer, Jesus has already forgiven your sins on the cross.

So what then is Jesus pointing to here?

Instead, it is parental forgiveness, as a child asking a parent to forgive them for a wrong done.

We can also call it circumstantial forgiveness, as we are seeking forgiveness for the sins we commit each day.

So, it is true, we’ve been forgiven of all our sins by the completed work of Jesus.

And yet, like a child seeks forgiveness from a parent not to earn love or relationship (which they already have), but to set right a wrong done.

1 John 1:8–9 ESV

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The term “debts” is a powerful one, because most of us know what it’s like to have debt. It is a burden, and often a crippling burden.

Many of us have been in a circumstance in which we wondered if we would ever be able to pay our debts.

Consider the trap of credit card debt...

That’s how we should see our sin. Our sin creates a debt before God. We cannot pay this debt, no matter what.

Jesus forgave our sin debt on the cross. Completely.

But, as believers, we continue to commit sins on a daily basis. We don’t ask forgiveness of our sins in order to have our sins washed away again by Jesus. We ask forgiveness of our sins because sin hinders our relationship to God.

Unconfessed, unrepentant sin, just like credit card debt, can cripple our relationship with God because God and sin cannot co-exist (like being debt-free while being in credit card debt cannot co-exist).

God hates sin. Sin is the antithesis of the holy, holy, holy God.

Thus, in confessing our sins to God we agree with God that sin is evil and that we don’t want sin to hinder our relationship to Him.

So, it’s vital that we understand this: judicial forgiveness (justification) is only accomplished through the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Parental or circumstantial forgiveness, focuses on daily defilement because of sin.

It is this second kind of sin that Jesus wants us to seek forgiveness for daily in our prayers.

But, a word to those who haven’t received forgiveness of your sins through Jesus Christ...

Forgiving others for their sins against us.

If we have been forgiven much, then we ought to be willing to forgive others much!

Yet, this is challenging, isn’t it?

We often determine whether we will forgive someone by our judgments of their worthiness of that forgiveness, whether they seek forgiveness or not, or the depth of the hurt we feel.

First, just as we are not worthy to receive forgiveness of our sins, so others don’t need to be worthy to be forgiven of their sins against us.

Second, Jesus set the example for us when it comes to forgiving those who don’t seek forgiveness. On the cross, looking out a large crowd of people not seeking forgiveness, including the Romans who crucified Him and were gambling over His clothing, the religious leaders gloating over their apparent victory, the crowds of gawkers who had just recently demanded His crucifixion and were now mocking and cursing Him, yet Jesus says, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Have you really been wronged worse than this?

Third, the issue with the depth of the hurt can be more challenging for us. But, a couple things to bear in mind:

In forgiving others, we aren’t saying the wrong they committed was okay, we are simply letting go of our perceived right to get back at the person and wish that they will get theirs;

It doesn’t necessarily mean the relationship will go back to what it was before; and most importantly,

We are never more like Christ in this life than when we truly forgive someone for a wrong done against us.

Verses 14-15 tell us why forgiving is so important…

We ought to take forgiveness seriously enough that we realize that unforgiveness bears serious consequences.

This, however, doesn’t mean that God is going to negate our salvation because of unforgiveness. Forgiveness comes by grace alone through faith alone, not through works.

Again, the difference between judicial forgiveness and parental or circumstantial forgiveness.

The quickest way to stunt our spiritual grow is unforgiveness.

Forgiveness is a multi-layered activity. It is intrapersonal, interpersonal, communal and spiritual.

We hurt ourselves when we refuse to forgive others, as we become bitter and calloused.

We hurt others because they are burdened with bearing the guilt often associated with knowing someone will not forgive you.

We hurt the church because unforgiveness can destroy the fellowship within a church.

We hurt our spiritual walk because we refuse to do what Jesus clearly commanded us to do.

Thus, if we refuse to forgive others their sins against us, God will not let us enjoy the freedom we’ve received through being forgiven of our parental or circumstantial sins.

A personal example...

While forgiveness deals with wrongs already done, verse 13 focuses on preventing sin in the first place.

Stuart Weber writes, “The kingdom servant who matures and grows in purity and obedience should rely less and less on the prayer for forgiveness and more and more on the prayer for protection.”

This can seem confusing, since God doesn’t tempt people. The idea behind this is not to let us succumb to temptation when it comes.

A better understanding would be a testing of our faith. Testing our faith is common within the Christian life. In fact, God will often use tests of our faith to confirm the genuineness of our faith in Him. Thus, this prayer isn’t asking for testing not to come, it is asking for the strength to not succumb in the midst of the testing.

When one falls to temptation we cannot blame it on God, yet it is important to recognize that our spiritual battles are already lost if we attempt to fight them by our own strength. Praying for spiritual strength in the face of temptation is an important spiritual discipline.

James 1:13 ESV

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

vs.

James 1:2–3 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

James 4:7 ESV

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

This prayer is really a prayer that we will be able to find a quick way of escape when temptation comes.

Don’t miss the one we ask to be delivered from: the evil one. Really, this is a prayer that asks to be protected from the three causes of sin: the world, the flesh and the devil.

Timeless Truth: Our prayers should include admitting our sins before God and seeking to make reconciliation with people.

Is there sin in your life that you need to confess before God?

Do you need to seek forgiveness from someone else?

Do you need to forgive someone?

What hinders you?